On Harune's Return
by hareonaxx
Summary: She had already lost everything, so when Kamineko Harune was sent to serve under Orochimaru as a spy, she had no problem with it whatsoever. But coming home after 3 years didn't quite turn out as good as she hoped it would have. KakashixOC, rated M for occasional smut, and a little bit of GenmaxOC because he's almost as perfect as Kakashi. **COMPLETE, sequel coming out soon!**
1. Homecoming

The curse mark was burning again, and it took Kamineko Harune all of her effort not to screech out in pain. As agonizing as it was, she had to keep going to avoid getting caught by the ANBU squad right on her tail. Unfortunately, the 17 year old was having a difficult time focusing on her surroundings, and nearly crashed right into Konoha's most wanted criminal: Orochimaru.

"Kuso! Go-gomenosai, Orochimaru-sama," the dark haired kunoichi apologized quickly.

"Why so shaken, Harune-chan?" the S-class missing-nin drawled. "You did manage to get what I had asked of you, yes?"

Harune nodded enthusiastically, before fumbling through her satchel, trying her best to buy time. Orochimaru didn't seem to notice that the ANBU operatives were closing in on them quickly, and were seconds away from ambushing the criminal pair. She just hoped they would be strong enough to take the Legendary Sannin down.

The curse mark throbbed, demanding to be released, and the Sannin's dojutsu experiment hissed, placing her hand on the back of her neck in a fit of pain. The snake summoner didn't seem at all surprised or concerned, and simply waited patiently for his subordinate to finish cussing out the pain, as was her habit.

"Kuso," Harune smirked. She did it.

"NOW!" Hatake Kakashi's voice roared through the forest, and ANBU agents flooded into view, surrounding Orochimaru and Harune, who swiftly caught him in a chokehold, pressing a chakra infused kunai against her former sensei's throat.

"And after all this time, I really believed I could trust you," the rogue Sannin chuckled malevolently.

"I knew you could make me powerful, but I never expected this much, quite honestly," the Byaku-Sharingan blessed Kamineko snarled, a hint of amusement in her voice. She felt Orochimaru tense, having realized that it was in fact she who had been using him all along.

"You know, not all Konoha ninja are merciful," Harune said, suddenly bloodthirsty for the death of the Sandaime's former subordinate. She made the move to slit his pale throat, but a cry out from Kakashi halted her actions.

"Harune! We need him alive," the jonin reminded her, walking up to the S-class criminals cautiously. Orochimaru took the dark haired kunoichi's hesitation as an opportunity, and released the seal on her curse mark.

The 17 year old immediately dropped to the ground, letting out a sharp cry of pain and shock. Her body began to rapidly undergo the transformation to the second stage, and her skin went from its dark olive colour to a disturbing greyish tint. Her black hair grew even longer, and changed to match Kakashi's silver locks. Stunned, and fearful for his friend's life, Kakashi ran in to help her, only to be swiped away by the cursed kunoichi.

"Ku-ku…so, Kakashi-kun, use… Sharin-gahh!" The rogue jonin fought the curse mark desperately, and the transformation halted halfway, giving the otherwise beautiful girl a horrifying appearance.

"Che, such a pretty girl, I really did love having you around with me," Orochimaru cackled, "It's too bad I have to use you to kill these ninja."

All at once, the surrounding ANBU moved to attack the Sannin, and it was all that Harune could do to watch her own movements as she unwillingly defended her former 'sensei' ferociously.

_Control yourself, kuso, _the young missing-nin inwardly fought for dominance over her own body, to no avail. The best she could do was gain enough self-restraint to keep from killing any of her Konoha comrades, and only used enough force to knock them out.

Kakashi hung back the entire time, unable to bring himself to fight the girl he had promised Obito he would protect with his life. He had already failed to protect Rin, and he had allowed Harune to be kidnapped on her last ANBU mission, those three years ago. He couldn't fight the Kamineko, not under these circumstances.

All 15 ANBU agents were on the ground, having been knocked out by the cursed kunoichi. Orochimaru watched with malignant glee as the childhood friends realized that they had no choice but to attack each other. Kakashi wanted to look away from the sight of his broken friend, not because she was stuck between phases, half-transformed into the demon the curse mark had the potential to turn her into, but because she was helpless, the tears streaming from the eyes that were silently begging him to kill her and take her out of this hell.

"Chidori," the feline summoner mouthed, her defining Kamineko fangs protruding slightly.

He shook his head, at first slowly, then defiantly, but the look in the kunoichi prodigy's eyes had changed. Kakashi had always had a difficult time discerning Harune's expressions, but there was no mistaking the smug look in the Byaku-Sharingan eyes locked with his own. It was all too familiar, and it sent the ANBU operative back to the years when Harune had trained with him and his genin team, Uchiha Obito and Nohara Rin. It was the look she had whenever the sharp girl had a plan, and he couldn't help but place his trust in her.

"Chidori!" the Copy-nin growled, and the forest air filled with the sound of a thousand high-pitched birds chirping.

_Kuso, this better work, _Harune thought to herself, staring at the lightning flowing from Kakashi's right hand. _If it doesn't, I'm dead._

The former Konoha jonin readied herself and got into a fighting stance. She had been pushing back the curse mark, and was slowly regaining full control of her body.

Kakashi couldn't give himself enough time to think; if he did, he wouldn't be able to bring himself to use chidori against the person he probably cared most for on this planet, especially after what had happened to Rin. The silver-haired ANBU charged at Harune with full force, fighting to control the overwhelming sense of fear and panic rushing through his body.

_Harune-chan, you better know what you're fucking doing. You better not die on me, not you too. I've been looking for you for three years. Three fucking years. And now that I've found you, you're coming back to Konoha with me, you understand?!_ The last Hatake thought as he felt his fist come into contact with the missing-nin.

"I'm a grown-ass woman, Kakashi-kun, of course I know what I'm doing," the dark-haired kunoichi smirked, and Kakashi realized that she had absorbed the impact of his chidori in her left hand.

It all happened too quickly; first, Harune had caught Kakashi's right hand in her left, the raw energy flowing directly into her body. As quickly as it had taken over, the curse mark began to visibly recede, and the Kamineko relished in the moments that she had regained her self-control.

Harune had always been known for her capacity to manipulate chakra effortlessly, but Kakashi never could have imagined that she could bypass the sheer power of chidori through her body and direct it elsewhere of her own accord. So when within seconds of having been struck by Konoha's Copy-nin Harune released the lightning from her right hand and straight at Orochimaru, who was standing defenselessly behind his former experiment, Kakashi needed more than just a moment to process the events that had just unfolded before him.

Harune's strike hadn't been lethal, but it was more than enough to seriously injure the Sannin. The pale snake-resembling criminal swiftly retreated, but the determined kunoichi made a move to go after him, driven by the flooding urge to seek revenge.

"Harune-chan! Don't, it's not worth it, not when you're injured like this," Kakashi held his reckless friend back. She opened her mouth to argue, but she felt residual surges of energy pulsing through her body, and had to hold on to the masked jonin for support. "We'll take you back to Kono-"

"Kamineko Harune, you are hereby under arrest by Konohagakure, under the orders of the Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen-sama, for committing treason against the state as well as a variety of S-class criminal offenses. You will remain in the custody of ANBU until returned to Konoha, where you will receive judgement and atone for your crimes. Is that clear?" A nameless ANBU agent cut the childhood friends' reunion short, pulling Harune's arms back aggressively and fitting handcuffs onto her.

"Crystal," the 17 year old, not showing any signs of restraint or disdain for the man. She noticed the rest of the squad had recovered from her attacks, and gave Kakashi a fond and somewhat apologetic look before being pulled into formation by the nameless officer.

The whole way back, Kakashi couldn't take his mind off the captured kunoichi. He thought back to that last mission they had gone on together, the mission where he lost his closest friend, and the one person he cared for most.

* * *

"So, what exactly are we doing again?" a 14 year old Harune asked, her voice muffled slightly by the ANBU mask she wore. Kakashi sighed behind her; she never listened to the briefings given to her squad by the Sandaime. Of course, the last Kamineko had always made an effort to at least _look_ like she was listening, but Kakashi knew that more often than not Harune had her mind on things she deemed were more important. What such things were, Kakashi could only imagine.

"We're going up to Kumogakure to retrieve some intel on a rumored military coup that's supposedly about to take place, Kuropansa," their squad leader replied, somewhat impatiently.

The girl nicknamed Black Panther looked up at the sky, replying with a thoughtful 'hnn'. None of her fellow teammates were aware of the true nature of the mission the Sandaime had sent them on: to get the Sharingan-blessed Kamineko captured by Orochimaru.

The plan had been in development since Orochimaru's defection from Konoha. The attack of the Kyuubi on the Leaf had left Harune orphaned and without a sensei, and her academy teammates had been killed in action on their first ANBU mission to Sunagakure together. Hiruzen had thought it best to reassign the more than distraught kunoichi altogether, and had placed her under Yamanaka Inoichi's tutelage.

It was here that she learned all the ninjutsu exclusive to the Yamanaka clan, including the Mind Body Disturbance Technique, the Mind Body Transmission Technique, and the Mind Body Switch Technique. Within months, Harune had become one of Konoha's Intelligence Division's greatest assets. As disturbing a thought it was, Hiruzen knew that it would be her youth and inherent potential to become powerful to an even abhorrent extent that would draw his former pupil to the girl, which was the exact reason why he had chosen her for the perilous task of infiltrating Orochimaru's organization.

Of course, the risks that this mission imposed were all fatal, and so it was imperative that no one would be made aware of it, except for Yamanaka Inoichi, the Sandaime, and of course, Harune herself.

The 14 year old knew that if the mission went awry, she would suffer immense consequences, and if it succeeded, she would more than likely be subject to horrible experiments at Orochimaru's hand, but it wasn't this that distressed her.

"Inoichi-sensei," the young espionage agent asked tentatively, as he walked her back home the night before she was due to leave. He turned to face the dark haired girl, caught off guard by the uncharacteristic uneasiness in her expression.

"Could I please tell Kakashi-kun?" she continued, almost desperately. The Yamanaka clan head sighed.

"You know the answer to that, Harune," he said, not unapologetically.

"He's going to blame himself again; at least make sure he's not assigned to this mission. He can't be there. He's not going to let Orochimaru take me easily."

"I'm not the one who decides who goes on what missions, the Sandaime does. And he decided that Hatake Kakashi will be a part of your squad tomorrow, Harune. Besides, like you said, his will to fight Orochimaru for you will undoubtedly be fearsome, which will assure Orochimaru even further that he is in fact the one who holds all the cards," Inoichi reasoned. Harune looked down at her feet, knowing that her sensei had a point.

"Someone is going to have to look after him until I come back. Kakashi-kun has a powerful darkness in his heart, sensei. Promise me that you'll make sure he doesn't lose his way as a shinobi," the Kamineko's green eyes locked with Inoichi's, and the Yamanaka gave her a sympathetic smile.

"You won't be gone very long, Harune. We'll get you back within a few months, just enough time for you to retrieve a substantial amount of information," he reassured her. "Come here," he said, pulling her into a hug. The Yamanaka had grown very attached to the young jonin in the year and a half that she had served as his subordinate, and was reluctant to let her go on such a dangerous mission. He knew that while getting her under Orochimaru's possession would be the easy part, her retrieval would be far from guaranteed, and that is what concerned him the most.

"You're strong. You'll be perfectly fine," the blond jonin said, and he wasn't sure who he was trying to convince more: the girl or himself.

"Arigato, Inoichi-sensei," Harune said, a grateful smile playing across her face, tattooed with the traditional whisker-like markings, as was customary of her clan. Inoichi had to force himself to keep walking even after she had closed the door behind her, and hoped that one day, his infant daughter, Ino, would grow up to be as brave a kunoichi as his student.

* * *

_Nothing had gone right that day,_ Harune thought ruefully as she trudged along, ANBU agents surrounding her as they made their way back to Konoha. She remembered how Orochimaru had ambushed her squad, assuming that they had been sent to capture him rather than complete some bogus mission the Sandaime had used to cover up his true intentions. Hiruzen was right though; the moment Orochimaru had seen Harune fight to protect her comrades, he wanted her. He wanted to harness her power: to add her to his collection of experiments in his conquest to learn every jutsu known to man.

And, as the feline summoner had expected, Kakashi had fought with a frightening ferocity to ensure that she remained his.

_"__Harune, you're all I have left. I can't even fathom a world where I lost you too. And for that reason, I will protect you with my whole life, no matter what," _Harune remembered the last Hatake's lifelong pledge to keep her safe the night she woke up in the hospital after having nearly died on a mission two years prior to her 'kidnapping'.

Of course, while the then 16 year old copy-nin was an undeniable force to be reckoned with, he was still no match for the defected Sannin, and Harune had to pledge her loyalty to him in exchange for the sparing of her comrades lives. To her, it wasn't even a matter of completing her own mission; rather, the only thing she had had on her mind at the time was ensuring Kakashi's survival.

It had been a full year before the dark haired kunoichi had finally lost hope in her retrieval.

And it had been a really difficult one.

Orochimaru had wasted no time in expanding Harune's potential to become one of his most powerful subordinates, and used the Sharingan carrier as a subject for his dojutsu experiments. The result was much more formidable than anyone could have expected, including the defected Sannin himself, and it was equally terrifying.

Kamineko Harune had become the first and only human carrier of both the Sharingan and the Byakugan, and she was in full control of both. When activated, the young jonin's otherwise green eyes would turn white, with three tomoe circling the center. It granted the last Kamineko power that Orochimaru himself knew he would fear if it was ever used against him, resulting in his branding her with the curse mark.

Thinking back on her days under the control of the former Sandaime's subordinate, Harune knew that had she simply fought with her Will of Fire, she never would have had to commit the horrendous crimes Orochimaru had manipulated her into. However, the Harune of then had lost all sense of her Will of Fire, having abandoned all faith in that one day, the Sandaime would send someone out to deliver her from this hell.

And yet the overpowered kunoichi had never forgotten her assignment and continued to archive all the information she retrieved from a trusting Orochimaru for the three years she served under him. Regardless of what the Sandaime held in store for her upon her return to Konoha, the Kamineko decided that it was her duty to relay every last piece of intelligence she had collected.

The martyred espionage agent had successfully completed her mission.


	2. Mission Completed

Hiruzen couldn't look the girl in the eye when she was first brought into his office by the ANBU squad leader. The feline summoner's eyes held a powerful darkness, and the mischievous smirk that had always played across the younger Harune's face had long since disappeared. Her three year estrangement from Konoha had had visible effects on the kunoichi, and the Sandaime felt horribly responsible.

"Kamineko Harune," he greeted slowly, nodding slightly. For a moment the 17 year old just looked at the man who had sent her on this suicide mission, but then opened her mouth to reply.

"Sandaime," she greeted, not unkindly. However Kakashi, who had been allowed into the office under the pretense of 'being able to act should the prisoner resist', noted his former teammate's much more frigid demeanor, and could only bring himself to imagine what she could have possibly endured. Even in grieving the death of her parents, their friends, and her sensei, Kakashi had remembered how Harune had always tried her best to remain bright and pleasant, but now, the kunoichi didn't put the slightest bit of effort into putting up a façade. She was hurt and angered to a much deeper degree; one that he wasn't quite sure even he could relate to.

"Sandaime," Harune repeated, after another moment of tense silence, "I know that I am in no position to ask for anything, but I would very much like to see Inoichi-sensei," she locked eyes with the Hokage, giving him a look that said that she would not take no for an answer.

_She was in every position to ask for anything she wanted, _Hiruzen thought to himself, feeling as though he had betrayed one of his own family members. He nodded.

"Kakashi, would you mind summoning Yamanaka Inoichi?" the Sandaime turned to the silver-haired agent standing at the doorway. Kakashi was perplexed by Harune's odd demand to see the head of the Intelligence Division, but he obliged nonetheless. With a single "hai," he went to seek out Inoichi.

* * *

Although Konoha was a relatively large village, word spread through the shinobi community like wildfire, and Yamanaka Inoichi had just gotten back from a mission when he had heard tell that a certain S-class missing-nin had been captured by ANBU and returned to the Leaf. He, however, recognized the unreliability of simple rumours, and decided it would be best to dismiss it.

But when the blond jonin heard Kakashi call after him upon crossing his path on the way back to his own office, the Head of the Intelligence Division had no choice but to consider the possibility of such rumours being true. There wouldn't have been any other reason for the last Hatake clan member to seek him out.

"Inoichi-san, Sandaime-sama wishes to see you," the 19 year old jonin said, thinking that this was probably the first time in his life that he had ever spoken to the Yamanaka directly. With a simple nod, Inoichi wordlessly started in the direction of the Hokage's office. Neither shinobi were particularly social men, and neither had made an effort to dispel the awkward silence that rested above them. Inoichi wasn't sure how much Kakashi knew about the situation, and decided that it was in his best interest to let Harune enlighten him on what she deemed necessary. The blond sighed internally; he was already thinking as though his former subordinate was in fact home.

Kakashi had been racking his brain for any reason as to why Harune could have possibly asked to see Yamanaka Inoichi above anyone else. It seemed obvious; the man was the only one capable of extracting as much information about what she had experienced in the past three years as accurately as possible, but the way that she had made her odd request lead her best friend to believe that there was much more to it than that.

When they got back, Hiruzen appeared to be leafing through reports, while Harune was leaning on the doorpost, with her summon, Kuroda, pacing the office. The ninken user noted how much the black panther had grown; she was easily as tall as her summoner if she stood up on her hind legs, if not even a little taller, and she could probably take out Bull if she really wanted to.

_As if Harune wasn't dangerous enough on her own, _Kakashi thought, eyeing his best friend's summon.

Hiruzen was the only one who acknowledged the two men who had entered, although Kakashi thought he heard Harune's breath hitch for the briefest of moments as he crossed her line of sight. The Hatake cursed his heightened sense of smell; the feline summoner emanated a sort of sweet, fresh fragrance combined with the metallic scent of her equipment that awoke some feeling in him that he couldn't quite place is finger on, and it frustrated the silver-haired jonin a great deal.

"Kakashi," Hiruzen's voice broke the Hatake from his transfixion with the dark-haired kunoichi. His head snapped up to face the Hokage, getting impatient. He just wanted time to be with Harune right now; he didn't care about all this bullshit. That could get done later. Kakashi hadn't seen the Kamineko in three years. Having to wait even longer when she was so close to being his once more was grueling and unbearable.

"I have to dismiss you at this point, I'll send someone for you when I need your services again. Go home and get some rest," Hiruzen said firmly, anticipating resistance from the 19 year old. Kakashi just nodded once before turning to leave, knowing that if he even tried to argue, he would lose his temper and would probably end up delaying his reunion with Harune.

Harune kept her gaze to the floor as she had been since Kakashi had first left to bring back Inoichi. She didn't want to speak to anyone before him; after all, it was part of her mission's protocol to relay all information archived to the Yamanaka immediately upon her retrieval from Orochimaru.

The instant the door had closed behind Kakashi, the young jonin looked up to face her old mentor.

"Inoichi-sensei, please, help me document everything. It is impossible for me to relay everything to you verbally, I- I wouldn't even know where to begin," Harune nearly pleaded, wanting desperately to rid herself of all the dreadful memories the past three years had harbored.

Hiruzen stared at the Kamineko in shock. The Sandaime had assumed that Harune had asked to see her ex-sensei because she simply wanted to after all these years, but the Byaku-Sharingan blessed kunoichi had had her mind set on completing her mission this whole time.

"Harune," Inoichi began, equally as taken aback as Hiruzen. His former subordinate stood before him, and removed the Otogakure forehead protector so that he could retrieve all her intel using his Mind Body Transmission jutsu. The Yamanaka ignored this and pulled her into a hug, taking in everything she had collected in her three years under Orochimaru's control this way rather than simply touching his hand to her forehead, as he normally would have.

The emotions the blond jonin experienced in the process were past the point of overwhelming. He felt every bit of pain, fear, and crushing sense of despair Harune had since her estrangement from Konoha. Seeing what he and the Hokage had put the last Kamineko through was enough to make him want to break down himself, and when the ex sensei-student duo pulled apart, he had to wipe away the tears that threatened to stream down his face. With a sad smile, Harune turned to face Hiruzen, who was sitting at his desk, watching the exchange.

"Sandaime, my…my Sharingan, Orochimaru-sama—" Harune paused, her habit of referring to the renegade Sannin as a superior of such high standing leaving a bitter taste in her mouth, "—Orochimaru," she corrected, "merged it with a Byakugan. I don't know how, all I know is that I felt like I was dying. It was almost as excrutiating as when he branded me with the curse mark," the dark-haired kunoichi unconsciously reached to touch the three tattooed tomoe on the back of her neck. "It's similar to the one Anko has."

"Can you use it?" Hiruzen asked, keeping an eye on Kuroda, who had not stopped pacing the office, however had now taken to circling Harune in a rather protective manner. While her summoner showed nothing but cooperation, Hiruzen sensed the black panther's obvious discomfort with their return to Konoha, and questioned whether or not she too had been subject to his former student's experiments.

"My Sharingan, or the Cursed Seal?" Harune was unsure as to what the Sandaime meant by 'it'. "I am in complete control of my dojutsu, Sandaime, however I refuse to ever release this curse mark of my own free will."

Satisfied, Hiruzen nodded, and stood up to give Harune a hug in his own turn.

"You have done more than you can possibly imagine for Konoha. Kamineko Harune. You are an exemplary kunoichi of the Leaf, and you receive my infinite gratitude," the old man said, tearing up slightly himself.

"We did everything we could to find you," Inoichi added.

"But Orochimaru is a very tricky man, and is difficult to track down," Hiruzen finished.

"I had given up," Harune confessed, petting Kuroda, who had now sat down beside her, on the head. "You have no idea how happy I was to come across your ANBU, even if they treated me like a criminal. I assumed it's because you had all heard of the offenses Orochimaru was forcing me to commit. When he's around, I have no control over my actions. He activates the Cursed Seal and I…"

"You have a trial tomorrow, Harune," Inoichi interrupted her. His ex-student looked up, fear taking over her expression. The people of Konoha would never forgive her for the crimes they thought she had been responsible for.

"There's nothing to worry about, though, I will rule you as innocent. It was not you who commited those horrendous crimes, it was Orochimaru. You were carrying out your mission and remained loyal to Konoha those three years. You are a prime example of someone who carries the Will of Fire, Harune," Hiruzen consoled the dark-haired girl. Harune let herself cry freely for the first time in years.

"Arigato, Hokage-sama!" the 17 year old threw her arms back around Hiruzen, sobbing tears of gratitude and relief. The Sarutobi looked over her shaking shoulders to Inoichi, who looked just as mollified as he. The worst of it was behind them all.

Kamineko Harune was finally home.


	3. Evicted

"Kuroda, we're finally back," Harune said happily to her summon as they walked down the familiar roads of the inner village. The black panther purred in response. It had been a while since the nineko user had called up her partner— Harune had refused to make Orochimaru aware of Kuroda's existence— so the pair was enjoying each other's company a great deal.

Night had fallen over Konoha just a little bit before Hiruzen dismissed Harune, telling her to go home and take a more than well-deserved break for as long as she needed. At the thought of this last Kamineko halted, catching Kuroda off guard.

"Kuso," she muttered; it had only just occurred to her that she had no home to actually _go_ to. She looked at Kuroda, grimacing. The freed kunoichi didn't even have any money to rent out a hotel room.

"Gomen, Kuroda, you're probably going to want to go now," kneeling down to meet her summon at eye-level, Harune gave the panther a hug. "Looks like I'm gonna have to beg someone to rent out a room to me for the night, kuso."

Kuroda gave her partner a low, disappointed grumble, making Harune laugh lightly.

"Oh I know, I'll call for you again tomorrow," the Kamineko apologized. "I don't think I'll be able to take on my first full day back in the village on my own anyway," she laughed. "Mata ashita, sleep well."

With a final look of displeasure directed at Harune, Kuroda shunshined off. Harune sighed heavily, trying to decide what would be the best plan of action for the night. Although she had originally planned to beg for a free room, that option suddenly didn't seem so appealing to the overly-proud kunoichi. Figuring that she still had time to resolve the issue, she continued walking through the streets of Konoha, relishing in long delayed return to her hometown.

* * *

Kakashi couldn't sleep. He wasn't sure he wanted to, with Harune back in Konoha. The silver-haired jonin surrendered to his restlessness and got dressed, deciding to pass by her apartment and pay her a long overdue visit.

The 19 year old was already halfway to the Kamineko's former home when he realized that it had been rented out to a civilian family shortly after Harune's kidnapping.

* * *

_She's so disorganized,_ Kakashi thought, standing in the doorway of his best friend's dangerously cluttered bedroom. _I can't even see the floor…_

The Hatake carefully manoeuvred his way through the hazardous mess.

_That lunatic could have set up so many traps in here, it's a wonder I'm not a dead man—_

As if on cue, a kunai knife came flying from a corner of the ceiling and straight at Kakashi. The jonin dodged it, but just barely; he lost a lock of hair in the process.

_—__yet._ Kakashi stared down at the tuft of silver hair on the floor, thinking fondly about his teammate's over-protectiveness of her personal space.

"I swear, I love people, it's just, sometimes I gotta keep to myself, you know? And I just can't stand when people— GAI GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY HEAD—"a 13 year old Harune defended herself when Asuma had once questioned her on why she was so 'anti-social' in Kakashi's memory. The eccentric hippy-nin who had subsequently been whipped violently to the ground as a result of Harune's aversion to having her personal bubble invaded loved to tease his friend about her height. Though it was all in good fun on both sides, Gai sometimes forgot that the kunoichi two years his junior was freakishly strong, and he suffered dearly for it.

The black-haired nineko user had just never liked being touched. Being the rationalizer that he was, Kakashi attributed it to a subconscious reaction to the death of her parents, her comrades, and her sensei. It was almost like her tendency to push people away had manifested into a slight indisposition to physical contact.

Or maybe she was just like that; Harune's capricious personality made it difficult to tell sometimes.

Careful not to set off any other potential traps, Kakashi made his way to Harune's desk, where a collage of photos of their friends stood in a frame.

It had been nearly a year since the last Kamineko had been kidnapped by Orochimaru, and Harune's landlord, though one of those who had lamented her abduction alongside her comrades, decided that he could no longer keep her apartment vacant, and demanded that the Hokage send a shinobi in to clear out the missing-nin's belongings. Kakashi had volunteered immediately, feeling that allowing anyone else to would be an infringement of Harune's privacy.

But if the Sharingan-weilder was going to be completely honest with himself, he wasn't doing this purely for his missing friend's sake; he was also doing it for his own.

Kakashi missed Harune, a lot, and just being able to recover anything that had once had even a remote connection to the Kamineko offered some sort of consolation for him.

Before summoning his ninken pack, Kakashi scoured the apartment for any other traps his jonin counterpart might have rigged her small home with, thinking about how fucked over Harune's landlord would have been had he elected to clear it out himself. Satisfied when he found none, the last Hatake convened his canine comrades.

"Yo, Kakashi, it's been awhile," Pakkun greeted gruffly. The small pug's eyes widened as his nose immediately caught the scent of the missing-nin, and his tail wagged ecstatically.

"Harune's back?" he asked hopefully, looking frantically around for signs of the nineko summoner. At the mention of Harune, the entire pack began following her scent, eager to be reunited with Kakashi's childhood friend. Bisuke was especially excited; he and the dark-haired kunoichi had always had a particular affinity for each other.

Kakashi shook his head solemnly.

"This is her apartment, that's why you smell her all over the place," he said, sympathizing with his crestfallen pack. The moment he had walked into her tiny living space, Kakashi had been taking in the onslaught of the sweet, near candy-like scent the Kamineko had left behind, and it had been slowly eating away at his composure. The broken-hearted look in his ninkens' eyes brought a lump in Kakashi's throat.

Swallowing hard, the 17 year old tried to maintain his characteristic non-chalance, and explained the task at hand to the ninken.

* * *

_She must have realized by now that that old apartment isn't hers anymore, and I doubt the Hokage remembered to mention it to her,_ Kakashi thought as he roamed the empty streets of the village_. If Harune's still anything like she used to be, she'd be wandering aimlessly through Konoha as well at this point, it's just a matter of—_

"Kuso! Ugh," the Kamineko groaned, rubbing her head. She looked up from her place on the ground to the obstacle that sent her flying, slightly dazed. "Gomen, I didn't think anyone would be around at this time, so I wasn't really paying attention to where I—Kakashi-kun?!"

Realizing that it was her silver-haired comrade that she had carelessly rammed into, a bright smile played across the jonin's face.

"Daijoubu ka?" Kakashi asked, slightly concerned when the Kamineko just stared at him, grinning widely. He bent down to help her up, and was almost thrown back down himself when she flung her arms around his neck.

"Kakashi-kun! Kuso, I missed you so fucking much," Harune said, tears beginning to fill her eyes up again. At first, the Hatake didn't hug her back; he was having a difficult time grasping the fact that this girl, the last person on the planet that Kakashi truly cared for, was finally back with him. But when his nose picked up that familiar candy-like scent emanating from her body and her face buried itself deeper into the crook of his neck, he realized that this wasn't all some sort of dream that would become a nightmare upon his awakening, but in fact reality.

When Kakashi finally responded to her hug and put his arms around her, Harune almost burst into uncontrollable sobs. His touch nearly erased all the memories of the past three years; they didn't matter anymore. She was back, reunited with her best friend. Kakashi made everything ok again.

"Can I ask what the hell you were doing just now?" Kakashi asked when the pair finally pulled apart. Harune laughed lightly.

"Running," she said casually. "It's been awhile since I was able to roam around so freely."

At this, Kakashi smiled fondly.

"Oh! Harune-chan, the reason why I came out here was actually to find you," he said, suddenly remembering her apartment issue. "Your landlord—"

"—booted me out. Yeah, I figured," Harune said with a small smile. Kakashi nodded. "I was just gonna ask some innkeeper to let me crash for the night until I got everything figured out," she said earnestly, kicking the dirt on the ground with her sandals. "Thanks for coming out to tell me though."

"Actually, I came out here to find you and take you home," Kakashi said. Realizing how that sounded, he corrected himself quickly, "I mean, like, you can stay over at my place as long as you need to, until, you know, y-you find another apartment. If you want, th-that is, you know, you don't have to, I just wanted to put that out there. In case you needed it."

Harune stared at the ANBU agent before her in slight shock. Hatake Kakashi, the famous Copy-nin of Konoha, had only ever been known for being calm, cool, rather emotionless, and well, _not a total stuttering mess_. Her signature smirk made itself visible on her tattooed face and she nodded.

"Oh thank the kami, I did not want to go out begging for a room, kuso," she laughed, putting her hands behind her head. Kakashi sighed in relief; he appreciated Harune's sensitivity at times like this. While the kunoichi was known to be bitterly sarcastic and sharp with her comments, there were instances when she decided to let things slide, and tonight, Kakashi's very atypical stammering was one of them.

"Well, let's go then, I'm getting kind of tired," Harune said, walking in the direction she remembered Kakashi's home to be, hands still placed behind her head as though she was lying down looking up at the clouds in the sky.

Despite having been gone for as long as she had been, Konoha still had a wonderful sense of familiarity to it that Harune had missed dearly. During her time with the renegade Sannin, she had often had to pick up and leave just when she was starting to get comfortable, for lack of a better word, to prevent Orochimaru from being captured. Knowing that she could call the friendly Hidden Leaf village home once again was more than enough to put a smile on the Kamineko's face.


	4. Tattoos, Haircuts, and Cup Ramen

Kakashi didn't really know what to say or do. He knew that he had missed Harune more than he could express, and he was even happier from the moment the reckless kunoichi had run into him on the street. He knew he wanted to tell her this, and he knew he wanted her to tell him about her time with Orochimaru. He felt like there was so much to catch up on with his best friend.

But neither Kakashi nor Harune were particularly expressive people when it came to their personal feelings, and so that left the pair in silence, even when they walked into his apartment.

Harune could feel the tension emanating from Kakashi, but she didn't know what to do about it. To her, the silence between them was a comfortable one; she didn't need him to talk about how much he missed her. She already knew that. And she felt as though he already knew how much she had missed him; how she thought about him every single day since she began her mission.

_Kuso, _she thought, realizing that Kakashi was completely unaware of the fact that what she had returned from was actually an S-rank mission.

"Well, the bathroom's just down the hall to your left, if you want to take a shower," Kakashi's voice broke Harune's train of thought. The Kamineko had never noticed how deep it was, and she didn't remember it being so— manly— but she liked it. A lot.

"Harune-chan?" Kakashi asked tentatively; the girl had been staring at him blankly, with a shadow of a smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth.

"Hm? Kuso, gomen Kakashi-kun, I was daydreaming a bit," Harune laughed, internally cursing herself when she felt a blush creeping up on her. She hoped the jonin standing across from her didn't notice. "But yeah, I really need to wash up," she continued, brushing off her awkward moment. "Would you mind if I borrowed some clothes or something? I didn't really pack a suitcase when I left Orochimaru's lab," the dark-haired kunoichi joked. Kakashi didn't look particularly amused.

"Too early?" Harune asked, taking off the two katana slung across her back. Kakashi nodded, but couldn't keep from smiling slightly, not that Harune could see it behind his mask.

"I actually have all your old clothes in a box; I'll go get them for you," the silver-haired jonin said. Harune nodded and continued to remove her equipment, placing it in a pile on the floor beside the sofa.

_I doubt I'll actually fit in my old clothes_, she thought.

Kakashi came back a moment later, carrying a relatively large box.

"Hey, how did you manage to get all my crap anyway?" the Kamineko asked, rummaging through her old belongings.

"Like I said, your landlord wanted your apartment cleared, so I went in and did it for him. He's lucky he hired a shinobi for the job; you would've killed the poor man with your little kunai trap," the jonin pointed out.

Harune's eyes widened as she remembered her improvised security system.

"Kuso, gomen Kakashi-kun," laughed the kunoichi, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly. "No one got hurt, right?"

"No, don't worry about it. I just lost a bit of hair is all," Kakashi flashed his long-practiced eye-smile, sitting on the other side of the box, across from Harune.

"Now that you mention it, it's gotten a lot longer, you mophead," the nineko summoner teased, reaching across the box to ruffle her jonin counterpart's silver locks. Kakashi grinned.

"I get lazy," he confessed, rubbing his own hand through his gravity-defying hair. Harune sighed in mock exasperation.

"I'll take care of it later," the 17 year old said, settling on one of her old black t-shirts and a pair of black shorts. "I'll be back," she grinned, and made her way to the bathroom.

* * *

The hot water felt ridiculously good on Harune's skin. She had grown accustomed to the freezing water that ran in the showers of the various laboratories Orochimaru had had set up around the world, so the hot water running from Kakashi's shower did not go unappreciated. In fact, the jonin stayed under the shower head until there wasn't any more hot water left to enjoy.

The clothes that Kakashi had spared from her younger days, to Harune's great surprise, actually still did fit her— barely. The t-shirt fit her in such a way that made her small B-cup boobs look so busty even she was impressed when she saw her reflection in the steamed up mirror, and it was all she could do to thank the kami that her shorts at least covered her butt, even if they cut off literally just under the cheeks.

_Kuso, I haven't seen Kakashi-kun for three fucking years and now I'm coming out looking like some sort of gypsy slutbag,_ Harune thought as she grimaced at herself in the mirror. _Just act natural, I guess,_ she sighed before walking back out into the living room.

"I was beginning to think you died in there or something," Kakashi said when he heard Harune enter the room, his back turned to her.

"The hot water was really nice," the girl admitted, her loose black hair dampening the back of her shirt.

"Are you hungry? I don't have much but I found some—" Kakashi stopped mid-sentence when he turned around to face his old teammate, nearly dropping the prepared cup ramen he held in his hands.

Completely aware as to why, Harune felt her face turn red hot, and was suddenly very thankful for her dark complexion.

"I kind of outgrew my clothes…That'll happen after three years okay, kuso," she said defensively, trying to cover up by crossing her arms over her chest.

Kakashi burst out into uncontrollable laughter.

"It's okay, Harune-chan. Y-you look good," he said when his fit was through.

The Kamineko rolled her eyes.

"Well if you're gonna keep staring at me like that, could you at least lend me something that won't totally tear off if I breathe in a bit too deeply?!" she hissed.

"Aw c'mon, no, I like it, Harune-chan. I swear you look good in that, don't worry," Kakashi said honestly.

"Pervert," Harune muttered when her best friend flashed his smug little eye smile, but obliged anyway.

"Here, take this, it'll calm you down you little hothead," the Hatake said, handing his ill-tempered friend the cup ramen.

"Arigato, mophead," Harune said, somewhat grudgingly.

It was the first time Kakashi really noticed the last Kamineko clan member. He had already seen her several times since the ANBU had retrieved her from Orochimaru that afternoon, but he hadn't had the chance to take an actual good look at the girl whom he hadn't seen for three years. And the three years had changed her. A lot.

Kakashi remembered his old teammate to have been much shorter than she was now; but it was only natural for her to have grown taller. Her hair was also a lot longer, and she now had two silver locks framing each side of her face reminiscent of the hair that he had seen grow when she had transformed under the curse mark. She was slim and her figure was well defined; it was obvious that she was a kunoichi, and Kakashi couldn't help but admire the tattoos that adorned her body.

He particularly like the kanji after which she was named that branded her outer left thigh; remembering the day she had gotten it.

* * *

The silver-haired genin was training with his newly formed ninken pack when Harune had come to him, the day after she had graduated from the Academy and become a genin herself. The six-year-old's eyes were red and puffy as though she had been crying, but she had a huge smile plastere on her face, tattooed with the defining markings of the Kamineko clan.

Kuroda, who at the time was about the same size as a fully grown Pakkun, came running beside her, greeting Kakashi's pack playfully, who responded in kind.

"Harune-chan, daijobu ka?" the eight-year-old Hatake asked, concerned.

"Look what my dad gave me!" the dark haired genin nearly squealed, lifting the shorts under her skirt just enough to reveal the kanji for "haru" on her left thigh. It looked like a fresh tattoo; the edges of the character were red and slightly irritated, but Harune didn't appear to be the least bit bothered by the pain, in fact, the huge grin she had had not faltered since her father finished branding her.

"That's really cool, Harune-chan, but, why did your father tattoo you? You're kind of young," Kakashi said. At this, Harune nodded excitedly.

"It's part of my clan's tradition," she explained. "We use tattoos to mark major milestones and accomplishments in our lives. When a Kamineko is born, well, we have a special jutsu that we use, and we're given our whiskers," the genin pointed to the tiger-stripe like impressions on her dark face. "Then, when we officially become ninja, we're marked with our namesake kanji. The next one is two bands on our arm, for a chunin promotion, and jonins have three bands."

"So you have a tattooing jutsu?" Kakashi asked, skeptical.

"Yeah, basically, mophead," the nineko user said, her laugh making the Hatake smile behind his mask, "It's sort of like a sealing jutsu, but it just leaves an imprint on our skin; it doesn't actually seal anything. I think the Inuzukas have something like it."

* * *

The memory of Harune's mention of the Inuzuka clan made Kakashi absent-mindedly scratch his cheek, where he himself bore the fang-shaped marks characteristic of the ninken-using clan.

Without realizing it until after the fact, the silver-haired jonin found himself scanning Harune's body for all the tattoos she had mentioned back then. The highly skilled kunoichi in fact sported every single one of them; all three of the bands hugging her upper right arm and her namesake kanji, as well as the ANBU Black Ops swirl on her left arm.

Kakashi had never realized that he had a thing for tattooed women, and before her knew it, he was imaging himself running his hands over her legs, kissing—

_Holy fuck, stop it Kakashi,_ the 19 year old snapped at himself. _Harune is your best friend and you haven't seen her in three fucking years; can you not be a total fucking pig, _his conscience growled. If he could have physically slapped himself without bringing on unwanted attention from the Kamineko, he would've.

Needless to say, Kakashi was more than taken aback by the kunoichi's beauty.

"You're not going to eat, Kakashi-kun?" Harune's voice broke Kakashi's perverted train of thought. She didn't have a very feminine and smooth voice like most women, but the way she spoke lent some sort of attractive element to its raspiness.

"Nah, I'm not all that hungry right now," the ANBU agent said, running his hands through his hair. Harune threw the empty disposable cup ramen out before grabbing one of her kunai lying with the rest of her equipment.

"Sit," she said, gesturing to the couch she was standing behind. Kakashi happily obliged.

"Kuso, it's like you were waiting for me to come back to cut your hair, Kakashi-kun," the kunoichi laughed lightly, trimming her teammate's over-grown gravity-defying locks.

"It never looked as good when I did it myself," Kakashi lamented. He loved the familiar feeling of Harune's hands in his hair; even before she had taken it upon herself to act as his own personal hairdresser, the girl had always just loved to play with the silver hair he had inherited from his father_. "It's a lot softer than it looks ok,"_ she used to defend herself.

"What can I say, I'm just great at everything. It's a blessing and a curse," Harune joked, finishing up.

"You actually are, Harune-chan," Kakashi blurted out. Harune blushed for the third time that night.

_Kuso, neither of us are acting like ourselves,_ she thought.

"You're just saying that because you missed me, mophead," the 17 year old said dismissively, but ruffled his freshly cut hair affectionately. "Now get out, I gotta sleep," she shooed her friend away.

"Take my room, I'll sleep on the couch tonight," Kakashi said, being the gentleman he was.

"You sure, Kakashi-kun? I seriously don't mind th—" Harune started, but was cut off by the ninken summoner.

"You'll sleep better on the bed, and if anyone deserves a good night's rest, it's you," he argued, standing up to push her gently in the direction of his bedroom.

"Alright, alright, arigato, Kakashi-kun," Harune resigned, turning to give him a hug. "Sleep well."


	5. Accusations

Harune awoke with a start the next morning, disoriented and almost panicked when she didn't find her kunai under her pillow, but it wasn't long before Kakashi's familiar scent surrounding her in her temporary bed reminded her where she was.

She found her jonin counterpart still asleep on the couch where she had left him the night before, and the clock on the wall above his kitchen counter told the former missing-nin that she had a couple of hours before her trial.

Thinking about the trial reminded Harune that she still needed to tell Kakashi why what had happened had; she had forgotten to last night. But seeing her over worked comrade sleep so peacefully on the couch made her decide that it could wait a little longer.

Looking through his fridge Harune learned that Kakashi was a man who usually just when out to eat; there wasn't really all that much in his fridge to look _through_. Luckily enough for her, Kakashi's organization skills well surpassed those of his cooking, and the kunoichi had no trouble finding his wallet.

She was halfway to the market when none other than Maito Gai attacked her with a hug.

"OH YOU ARE AS YOUTHFUL AS EVER!" the eccentric shinobi roared, flailing the Kamineko in his arms. Harune considered trying to wriggle out of his grasp, but she deemed it much more gratifying to mess with him a little bit; after all it had been awhile since she had seen him.

The second the mischievous kunoichi cracked her knuckles loudly and went limp, Gai dropped her, terrified that he might have cracked her neck.

"Kuso, Gai, you've gotten strong," Harune laughed as she helped herself up from the ground. Gai stared at her bug-eyed, as did Asuma, Kurenai, and Genma, who all seemed to gather around shortly after Gai's onslaught of love for the returned kunoichi.

"HARUNE-CHAN, I THOUGHT I HAD KILLED YOU!" Gai thundered, picking the short girl up again and crushing her in yet another hug.

"No…Gai I was just…messing with you," Harune choked out, struggling to breathe. "I can't believe you actually fell for that though!" she laughed lightly when the hippy-nin released her. "But shit, the whole gang's here! Well, almost."

Smiling, Harune turned to face her old comrades, who each looked more than happy to be reunited with the youngest member of their odd little shinobi family.

"Where were you off to? It better have been to come find us," Genma teased, pulling the kunoichi five years his junior into a tight, yet less rib-crushing than Gai, hug.

"How hurt would you be if I told you that I was more interested in buying groceries than I was in coming to see you?" Harune teased back, pulling away slightly to look up at Genma, who gave her a mock pout.

"Very," he whined playfully. He wished immediately that he could have come up with something a little more witty and clever, but he had quite honestly been thrown off his game by the young jonin's remarkable beauty.

"Then I won't tell you," she winked, and Genma was suddenly very thankful that he wasn't a man to blush easily.

"Groceries?" Asuma questioned. Harune nodded.

"Yeah, apparently Kakashi-kun doesn't eat at home very often; his fridge is empty," the 17 year old explained.

"Kakashi?" Gai's eyes widened at the mention of his arch-rival.

"You're staying with Kakashi?" Genma asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes; wipe that smirk off your face, Genma-kun," Harune warned him, half-jokingly. The senbon weilder grinned even more at the young kunoichi's defensiveness.

"What smirk?" he winked, putting his arm around Harune's shoulder and pulling her closer to his side. The dark-haired girl rolled her eyes, but didn't pull away.

"We heard you got back yesterday," Kurenai said gently. Harune laughed lightly.

"You make it sound like I came back from a vacation," she said with a small smile.

"When in fact you were busy committing S-rank crimes," Asuma said bitterly. At this, Harune's eyes widened, and she looked down. Orochimaru's former subordinate had expected a fair amount of hostility, but the youngest kunoichi of the group had just begun to get used to the accepting warmth of her old friends' welcomes, and Asuma's sharp comment, if she was going to be completely honest with herself, hurt.

"Asuma, those are only rumours. Besides, it's Harune-chan we're talking about; I have a hard time believing that she was actually behind all that," Gai jumped in to his friend's rescue, much to her gratitude. Gai's ability to so easily put the past behind him and move onto the future was a quality Harune had always admired, and at times like these, it was what she appreciated most about the otherwise peculiar ninja.

"And if she really was an S-rank criminal, do you think your dad would be letting her walk around freely saying that food is more important than me?" Genma added.

"Genma, is everything a joke to you?" Asuma snapped. "I overheard my father talk about the situation repeatedly over the years she was missing. Sure, the severity of her crimes might be exaggerated, but she worked under Orochimaru. It's not like she's completely innocent of everything," he reminded the group.

"If you'd overheard so much, you'd know that it was a mission," the accused kunoichi defended herself. "I have a trial in an hour and a half, if you'd really like to hear all about it," she hissed. "Now Kakashi-kun's gonna freak out if he finds out I stole his wallet, so I gotta go."

Letting Genma's arm fall of her shoulder and limply to his side, Harune started in the direction of the market, leaving the group behind.

"Asuma, why you gotta be such a dick sometimes?" the tokubetsu-jonin snapped at the Sarutobi once Harune was out of earshot.

"Genma, trust me, I love Harune-chan. She was a great friend, but you have to face the facts. The ANBU had to arrest her," the Hokage's son argued.

"Asuma-kun, she said it was a mission," Kurenai said, placing a calming hand on his shoulder.

"A three year mission? Guys, I know the old Harune was sweet and you missed her, but—"

"Kamineko Harune is a stubborn girl. Yeah, we haven't seen her in three years, but do you really think that she changed all that much? Because the way I see it, Harune-chan is the same girl we grew up with, and I don't give a shit how evil Orochimaru is; Harune is so set her ways that she wouldn't even let him sway her values," Genma cut his comrade off. "She's been through hell and back; she lost everyone. We're all she's got. Now if you actually believe that she's responsible for everything we heard she was, then that's your deal. But I don't know what Harune you grew up with to ever even consider any of that bullshit to be true."M

With that, the indignant senbon weilder shunshined off, leaving Asuma, Kurenai, and a very conflicted Gai, who had always had a hard time when serious conflicts arose between his friends.

"Well, uhm, I guess I'll go off to train now. I can't let my wonderful youth be wasted!" he tried to say with his usual cheeriness, and shunshined off as well.

* * *

"Kamiii… Where did you learn to cook, Harune-chan?" a very satisfied Kakashi said between mouthfuls of food.

"It's just some egg, rice, and fish, Kakashi-kun, nothing special," the kunoichi said dismissively, washing the dishes she had made. "What surprises me is that you didn't even have something as basic as that lying around."

"I'm too lazy to make my own food, and besides, I was going to go get us breakfast this morning except _someone_ stole my wallet," Kakashi grumbled.

"You'd save more money if you didn't eat out so much," Harune advised the jonin. "And it's healthier for you too," Kakashi saw her smile for the first time that morning as she placed a bowl of strawberries on the table for him.

Seeing Harune act as caring as she was being right now reminded the Hatake of Rin. His jonin counterpart idolized the medic-nin, following her around and always trying to be more like her. Naturally, Harune's mischievous and carefree character meant that she was nearly Rin's polar opposite; but Kakashi was able to catch snippets now and then of the effect his deceased comrade had had on her, and he smiled internally whenever he did.

"Arigato, Harune-chan," Kakashi gave a little eye smile to the Kamineko, who ruffled his hair. She looked at the clock.

45 minutes until her trial.

Sighing lightly, Harune went through the box of her old belongings; searching for the one dress she had ever owned, praying that it would fit. It had belonged to her mother, and it had been too big for her in her younger days; but now that she was fully grown, she hoped that it wouldn't be.

"I don't think I've ever seen you wear a dress before," Kakashi noted when the nineko user had come out of the bathroom. It fit her perfectly; the black fabric hugged her body nicely, the three-quarter length sleeves hung off her shoulders, and around her waist she wore a red sash. Kakashi pointed to it.

"Hey is that my—"

"—yeah, it's your scarf," Harune said, adjusting it slightly.

"You kept it?" the Hatake asked incredulously. Harune nodded.

"It was the only thing I had that tied me back to Konoha," she said, remembering when her friend had given her his signature scarf. "You used to wear it all the time," she reminisced.

"And you always used to steal it when you were little," Kakashi chuckled. "So at one point I just gave it to you because you seemed to want it so badly." Harune smiled fondly, but her grin faltered when she checked the clock again. She had half an hour.

"What's wrong?" Kakashi asked, noticing the quick change in her expression.

"I don't really have time to explain right now; I really gotta go," the accused criminal said hurriedly, and shunshined off to make it to the Academy in time.

Not a moment later, Kakashi got a knock on the door. It was Namiashi Raido.

"Kakashi-san, the Hokage would like to see you."


	6. The Trial

**_Hey all my lovely readers!_**

**_So I've posted 6 chapters of "On Harune's Return" up until now; I was just hoping to get feedback from you guys! I mean, I hope you're all enjoying my story so far, but I can't know for sure unless I hear from you every now and then haha :)_**

**_If it's not too much to ask, would you mind messaging me or something to let me know what you think so far, and if there's anything you'd like to see that I might be able to try and incorporate?_**

**_Arigato gozaimasu! 3_**

* * *

Hiruzen had promised to clear her of all charges, but Harune would've been lying to herself had she said she wasn't nervous, especially after what Asuma had said.

It was Kamizuki Izumo and Hagane Kotetsu who greeted the supposed criminal at the Academy entrance. Despite it being part of his job to remain neutral on occasions like this, Kotetsu addressed Harune warmly, and was as friendly to her as though they were classmates at the Academy once again. Izumo, being the more responsible and serious of the two, criticized his best friend for being so familiar with her, after which he genuinely apologized to their old classmate for having to regard her so dismissively. The young jonin just laughed it off; and thanked the chunin pair for having lifted her spirits before they left.

The Hokage's assistants had led her to a relatively large room, where she was sat down before the Hokage himself, the village's elders, and two other faces Harune didn't recognize, all sitting in a row.

At first she didn't notice them, but it wasn't long before the Kamineko realized that Kakashi and Genma were standing at the back of the room behind her. She could sense Kakashi's demeanor shift from his usual calm and collected self to surprised and unsure the moment he saw his best friend walk into the room, but Genma seemed utterly prepared for the Kamineko's entrance. Before she could turn around to meet Kakashi's eyes, Hiruzen called for her attention.

"Kamineko Harune, we are here today to discuss the events leading up to and during your involvement with the convicted criminal shinobi known as Orochimaru," he began, and Harune felt the pit growing in her stomach.

"Hai," she said uncertainly.

"For the purpose of this trial, we shall overlook the confidentiality of the details of your mission to infiltrate Orochimaru's organization," one of the elders said.

Kakashi, who had been standing in shock in the back of the room since Harune had entered, wasn't entirely sure that he was hearing everything quite right. He turned to Genma, who confirmed that he had in fact heard correctly, and motioned for him to listen.

"ANBU reports here state that on the day you were kidnapped, your squad was ambushed by Orochimaru, and you sacrificed your services to him in exchange for the sparing of your comrades' lives. Is that correct?" the other elder asked.

"It was my mission to do anything and everything I could to ensure the infiltration of Orochimaru's facilities, that's why I pledged my services to him," Harune explained, suddenly feeling confident in what she had to say.

_Just tell the truth,_ she thought to herself. _As long as you do that, you'll be fine. _

"How long was your mission supposed to last?" Elder 1 inquired.

"A few months; just enough time for me to collect a substantial amount of information," Harune quoted her former sensei's words from three years ago, "But no one ever came to get me. I had always just assumed that whoever was responsible for my retrieval had lost track of Orochimaru's whereabouts," the 17 year old continued.

At this, Kakashi swallowed hard. It was his ANBU squad who was in charge of keeping tabs on the defected Sannin; he had already been enraged when they had originally lost track of him, but finding out that Harune had in fact been relying on him caused his anger to resurface tenfold.

"So why didn't you make any effort to escape on your own? You are obviously a very capable kunoichi," Elder 2 asked, eyeing Harune suspiciously.

"Okay, firstly, last time I checked, he was the one called the Legendary Sannin: not me," Harune argued sharply, beginning to get annoyed with the ongoing accusations. Genma couldn't hold back his snigger at the Kamineko's hotheadedness; he thoroughly enjoyed her sassiness.

"Secondly, he experimented on me, mostly in the first year," she added. "I don't know if you've ever been a lab rat, but let me assure you that it doesn't leave you with much energy or freedom to come up with escape plans."

"Experiments?" Elder 1 repeated.

"This scar isn't here because it looks badass," Harune muttered, pointing at the thick scar running across the bridge of her nose down to just below her left eye. Had the given situation not been so grave, Genma would have allowed the 17 year old's comments to amuse him a lot more than he did.

"I got it from the dojutsu experiment Orochimaru was conducting. He merged the powers of the Byakugan with those of my existing Sharingan. Once he realized how powerful he had actually allowed me to become, he branded me with the Curse Mark."

Everyone in the room listened apprehensively as Harune proceeded to explain how it was the three cursed tomoe on the back of her neck and Orochimaru's puppeteering that forced her to commit the crimes she was being accused of, and the more she went on, the more guilt and self-resentment grew within Kakashi, who blamed himself for ever having allowed any of this to happen to the girl he vowed he would protect with his life.

"If Orochimaru was so difficult to escape from, how did you manage to get rescued by an ANBU squad whose mission had nothing to do with you and your whereabouts?" Elder 1 inquired.

"He had sent me on an assignment to retrieve intel from the Akatsuki," the Sannin's former subordinate answered. "I just happened to come across them, and I decided to use that to my advantage."

"I know I sound like I'm trying to rid myself of the culpability of my actions; I swear, I'm not. I know I should have fought harder to remain in control of my own will. All I ask is that you take my story into consideration when you come to a decision for my judgement," Harune finished, bowing her head submissively.

_Why do you always have to take the blame, Harune-chan?_ Genma shook his head. _You and Kakashi, it's like you look for reasons to beat yourselves up._ The senbon weilder remembered how hard both ninja took the passings of their comrades, sensei, and parents, holding themselves accountable for it all. In the the Kamineko's three year estrangement from Konoha, Kakashi had not relieved himself of any sense of guilt for something he ultimately had no control over; in fact, Harune's kidnapping and pushed him further into self-condemnation, and it was now clear that Harune was no different.

"And who's to say that you're telling the truth?" both elders demanded unsympathetically, as though neither had actually listened to any part of what Harune had divulged about her three year association with the alienated Sannin.

The martyred kunoichi snapped her head up at the insinuation that she was lying. Few things offended the proud and loyal Kamineko more than the denunciation of her honesty.

She shot a pleading look to the Sandaime, silently begging him to confirm truthfulness. When he made no move to do so, Harune glared back at the elders.

"Yamanaka Inoichi. He was the one who taught me all the jutsus I needed to efficiently gather intel and he was the one I reported every last one of my findings to," she said through gritted teeth. Hiruzen had promised to clear her, and yet there he was, allowing her to be interrogated mercilessly when he knew the whole story already and could easily uphold her credibility.

"Unfortunately Inoichi-san is not here to confirm your claims; he's on a mission and won't be back for a while," Elder 2 declared.

"Of course he is," Harune hissed. Kakashi wanted to pull the spiteful Kamineko to the side and tell her to calm down; losing her temper with the elders and the Hokage would not bode well in her favour, but as Raido had informed him earlier, he was summoned to work with Genma as a guard for the acting judges. It wasn't his job to keep his friend's temper in check at the moment.

"Sandaime, you know that I'm telling you everything as honestly as I possibly can," Harune implored.

Hiruzen nodded.

"I believe you; I know you are telling the truth, Harune, but right now my word alone is not enough," he said slowly.

"And what exactly will be enough, if the the _Hokage_, who sent me on this mission, isn't able to pass my word as honorable and reliable?" Harune challenged bitterly.

Genma, who despite doubting the young jonin would ever make a move to harm the Sandaime, reminded himself that his duty as the Hokage's bodyguard took priority over his sympathy for his friend, and discreetly manoeuvred himself in such a way that he could seize Harune within a split second should the impulsive and rather unpredictable kunoichi ever do something irrational.

"We will await Yamanaka Inoichi-san's return to Konoha, and then we will determine your innocence or not," Elder 1 declared.

"Until then, we shall pass temporary judgement," Elder 2 continued.

"Kamineko Harune, you are temporarily suspended from any activities regarding those of Konohagakure shinobi," Hiruzen stated, eyes filled with compassion in the hopes that the last member of the feline summoning clan would understand his reluctance to sentence her to something so harsh.

Harune stared blankly at him.

"What…what exactly does that mean," she asked, lowering her voice. She knew exactly what it meant.

"It means that you will temporarily renounce your standing as a kunoichi of Konoha, and continue living as a civilian instead, living by civilian laws, and performing civilian duties," the head of the Sarutobi clan explained. "You will no longer be allowed to go out on missions, nor will you be permitted to leave the Village at all, for that matter."

"Civilians are allowed to come and go as they please," Harune said questioningly, eyes narrowed.

"Consider it a little bit like house arrest," Elder 2 clarified.

"Fucking shit. You really don't trust me," the jonin said, as it finally dawned on her how wary the Leaf's Heads really were of her. The realization brought on a new wave of anger.

"You fucked up," she said, standing up. Both Genma and Kakashi tensed, ready to hold back the newly branded civilian, but she stepped back, passively showing that she wasn't a threat.

"Four and a half years ago, you let your feelings for your old student get in the way of your better judgement, and you fucked up and let him get away," Harune said icily, feeling a lump in her throat. "Then you tried to rectify the situation by sending me on a fucking suicide mission, where of course, you lost me, leaving me to fend for myself under your certifiably deranged subordinate, only to take away my right to be a kunoichi three years later for actually completing the fucking mission. Arigato, Hokage-_sama_," the dark haired civilian snarled before storming off.

"Well. She's pissed," Genma stated the obvious, trying to break the tense silence Harune had left behind.

"Sandaime, are you serious about all that? You're actually withdrawing her status as a kunoichi?" Kakashi asked, still incredibly unsure of exactly what had just happened. Hiruzen nodded solemnly.

"Harune is far too dangerous as it is, coupled with her complete unpredictability…it's best to keep her within the confines of the village as it stands," the Sarutobi sighed. Both Kakashi and Genma nodded in agreement; the Hokage was right. "You two should probably go and look for her; I think she could use some comfort," Hiruzen suggested, and with a 'hai', both shinobi shunshined off in search for Harune.


	7. Dango Shops and Coping Methods

"I thought you said she'd be here," Genma said, unimpressed when the two jonin hadn't found Harune at the memorial stone. "Maybe we should just let her be for a bit," he suggested.

"She couldn't have gone all that far; she's not even allowed to leave the village," Kakashi muttered, racking his brain for anywhere his best friend could have run off to.

"Wait, you don't think she actually did leave, do you?" the senbon weilder's eyes widened, knowing that Harune had never been one to abide by rules. After briefly considering the possibility, Kakashi summoned Pakkun.

"Yo," the pug greeted gruffly, looking up to face the pack leader. He sniffed. "You smell like," Pakkun circled Kakashi, trying to put a finger on, or paw rather, on the familiar scent floating on the Hatake.

"Harune?" Kakashi answered for him. Pakkun's tail wagged immediately at the mention of her name. Genma observed the pug with an amused look.

_Even the ninken love her,_ he thought. _Figures; I don't think I've ever met anyone who didn't like Haru-chan._

"Pakkun and I will go out to look for her; if she did leave, he'll track her easily," the silver-haired jonin said, turning to the Hokage's bodyguard.

"You do that," Genma said lazily. Kakashi frowned.

"And you keep looking in the village," he clarified. The tokubetsu jonin shrugged.

"Kakashi, if Harune wants to be found, she'll be found. I'm not saying it isn't a good idea that you and Pakkun check outside Konoha, but I don't think I need to turn the village upside down to look for her," he said, chewing on the senbon hanging in his mouth.

"Che," Kakashi mumbled, recognizing the futility in arguing with Genma. Granted, the 19 year old was pissed off at his jonin counterpart for his reluctance to help in Harune's search, but he wasn't the one who vowed to protect the girl; Kakashi was.

"Good luck," Genma saluted before disappearing.

* * *

"Harune-chan! Come join us for some delicious dango!" Gai called out to the civilian not a moment after she had walked into the restaurant.

The thoroughly agitated and irritable 17 year old put her hand up, motioning for him to wait, and she instead approached the shop owner.

Gai, Asuma, Kurenai, and Anko, who had been eating the sweet dumplings like there was no tomorrow, watched the exchange between their friend and the manager without reservation.

"Did she forget that she has to sit down and someone will take her order?" Anko asked, swallowing another skewer of dango.

The manager shook his head and Harune dejectedly walked back over to the table to join the group.

"They take your order here," Gai reminded her. Had the Kamineko not been feeling so defeated, she would have laughed.

"I was asking for a job," Harune grumbled, sitting herself down between the green-clad jonin and the Sarutobi.

"Harune, you're a kunoichi, you don't need a job," Kurenai said.

"Not anymore," the ex-jonin fiddled with the hitai-ate she wore around her neck. "The Sandaime doesn't trust me, and neither do the elders, so they suspended me from missions and pretty much demoted me to civilian status," she looked down, her black hair covering her face.

"Harune-chan," Asuma said tentatively. The 17 year old looked up.

"Gomen. Really, I'm really, really sorry about before," the Sarutobi clan's heir apologized as sincerely as he could, feeling terrible for the way he had treated her that morning. "I, uhm… I heard everything," he admitted.

"You eavesdropped on my trial?" Harune asked, unsure of whether she was amused or annoyed by this invasion of her privacy.

"You said I could come and hear all about it!" Asume defended himself, not wanting to further upset the girl.

"Relax, it's fine," Harune said, rather passively, but she nudged Asuma slightly with the tiniest of smiles pulling at the corner of her mouth, showing her forgiveness. "Everyone was gonna find out sooner or later anyway, kuso."

"So what are you going to do now?" Anko asked, before silently offering Harune her last stick of dango. The Kamineko's green eyes widened in shock; Anko never shared her food, especially her favourite sweet dumplings. This act of kindness touched Harune deeply, and while her love for sweets rivaled that of Anko's, she knew how difficult it must have been for her comrade, and declined.

"Thanks, Anko, but I'm not really all that hungry right now," she smiled slightly, much to the violet-haired kunoichi's relief, who swallowed the sticky dessert immediately before Harune could have had the chance to possibly change her mind. "Anyway, I need money, so I'm going around applying for jobs. I haven't found any openings anywhere though," she lamented, putting her head down on the table.

"She's not crying, is she?" Genma's voice came from behind them.

"You say that like I cry all the time, kuso," Harune tilted her head back to look up at the 22 year old, slightly offended.

The senbon user smirked, sitting himself between her and Asuma.

"Good to see that civilian life hasn't made you soft," he chuckled. Anko whipped one of Gai's untouched dango at his forehead.

"That's nasty," Genma complained, removing his bandanna, which now had sticky glaze all over the front.

"You're nasty," Anko hissed, in defense of her friend.

"Too soon, Genma," Kurenai reprimanded, shaking her head.

"Aw guys, it's fine, lighten up," Harune laughed, easily dismissing Genma's insensitive comment.

"See, Harune has a sense of humour," the jonin said jovially, folding his hitai-ate and wrapping his arm around her shoulder, only to have it shrugged off.

"Wait, _are_ you mad at me?" Genma asked at this rejection, his mouth frowning but his eyes playful. Harune cocked her head, giving him a puzzled look; she hadn't realized she had wiggled herself out from under his arm.

"Personal space," Gai reminded the elite bodyguard, thinking back to all the times the younger Harune had made a point to kick his ass every time he invaded her personal bubble. The self-proclaimed Green Beast of the Leaf was honestly quite surprised that Genma hadn't yet managed to receive a beating from the hotheaded Kamineko, who in her own right was surprised at Gai's recognition of her what now seemed to have become subconscious aversion to physical contact.

Nodding as if he too remembered what could happen if Harune suddenly decided to not be so forgiving, Genma changed the subject.

"Kakashi is out looking for you, by the way. He thought you left the village," he said, motioning for a waitress. "He's got Pakkun tracking your scent and everything."

"Why would I have left the village?" Harune asked, as the waitress set down a full plate of dango in front of Genma, who pocketed his senbon and dug in.

"Well, you've never been one to care about rules, Harune-chan," he reminded her, his mouth full.

"True," the ex-jonin mused, fiddling with one of the toothpicks on the table. "Anyway, I should get going. I still have to find a job, and I'd kind of like to before the end of the day," she said, standing up.

"If you need help, let us know!" Kurenai offered.

"You'll find one easily; your youth is in your favour!" Gai encouraged.

"Arigato, guys," Harune smiled gratefully, giving her friends a small wave before wandering off.

* * *

"She's not out here," Pakkun grumbled. It was evening now, and he and Kakashi, as well as the rest of the pack, had scoured the area just outside of the village in search for the demoted kunoichi, to no avail.

"Kuso," Kakashi muttered, before turning back in the direction of Konoha.

They were almost halfway back when Bisuke ran off on his own into the forest without notice.

Kakashi watched warily, lifting his forehead protector from his Sharingan eye as a precaution.

"Bisuke!" he heard Harune cry out happily as she emerged from the trees, subsequently causing the whole pack to run to the Kamineko.

"Harune-chan!" Kakashi called out to the dark-haired girl, following his ninken.

"Hey, Kakashi-kun," she greeted, shifting her attention from the ecstatic dogs up to the silver-haired jonin.

"You're not supposed to be out here," he chided the civilian, covering his Sharingan. Harune raised an eyebrow.

"Are you going to arrest me?" she challenged, crossing her arms. "I came out here looking for you," she said, not waiting for an answer.

"_I _was looking for _you_, hothead," Kakashi said, leading them back to Konoha.

"I know, Genma-kun told me," Harune ran to match the 19 year old's stride. Kakashi grunted.

"He told me that he wasn't going to keep looking for you," he said.

"It's not like I was actively hiding from you guys," Harune laughed lightly. Kakashi didn't respond.

"Kakashi-kun?" the temporary civilian asked uncertainly, leaning forward slightly to catch his gaze. When he didn't acknowledge her, she stopped him, taking him by the forearm.

The ANBU agent halted, but still didn't make a move to face the 17 year old who was asking for his attention.

"Kakashi-kun," she said, more demandingly, standing in front of him now. He looked down, but Harune was so short in comparison to him that his eye met hers, the green growing darker as the sunlight slowly faded.

"You gave yourself up to him," the Hatake mumbled, suddenly feeling a lump in his throat. Harune blinked at him for a moment before understanding what he was talking about.

"Well, yeah, I did, Kakashi-kun," she replied softly. "I had to."

"You were counting on me to bring you back."

"Wh-what are you talking about?" Harune asked, taking a step closer to the jonin.

"It was my ANBU team that was responsible for keeping tabs on that motherfucker," he growled.

Sensing Kakashi's anxiety and ever-growing instability, Harune glanced ever so quickly at Pakkun, who understood, and shunshined off with the rest of the pack, to give their alpha some privacy.

"Orochimaru is clever and resourceful, Kakashi. He doesn't make it easy for just anyone to track him down," the Sannin's former subordinate said, in an attempt to soothe her best friend's guilt. "It's not your fault."

"That's bullshit and you know it," Kakashi snapped. "It's all my fault. Had I not lost him, I wouldn't have lost you. You could've been back years ago," his voice cracked on the last word, and in a fit of frustration, he turned away, picking up a rock on the road and whipping it as hard as he could. He continued to do so, taking out his rage on every inanimate object within reach. It was all Harune could do to watch the 19 year old vent, hugging herself and keeping her distance so as not to get caught in the crossfire.

The sun had already almost completely set when the silver-haired jonin finally stopped, only to stand idly in the middle of the road, his back turned to the girl.

While the friendship between the two ninja had been sparked by their mutual ones, it had been strengthened and solidified by mutual understanding. Both the Hatake and the Kamineko had repeatedly suffered tragic loss throughout their lives, and though polar opposites in some manners, their coping methods we near identical. Both reacted very aggressively to pain, and even moreso to acts of consolement. It hurt their pride, and made them feel weak.

So when Harune approached Kakashi slowly, it wasn't because she was frightened by the sudden display of fury, but because she wanted to make sure that he was ok with it.

"Kakashi-kun," the black-haired civilian wrapped her arms around his waist, hugging him from behind. She could hear his ragged breathing and rapid heartbeat calm as she rested her head on his back.

"None of that matters anymore," she whispered, and she willed herself to maintain her composure even when she felt Kakashi's tears land on her arms. "I'm back now."

Kakashi turned himself around so he could hug the young ex-jonin back, burying his face in her hair, inhaling her sweet, almost sugary scent.

"Besides, it's not like I'm going anywhere anyway," Harune smiled against the ANBU's chest, feeling as comfortable as ever in his arms. "I'm pretty much leashed to the village remember?"

"And yet, you're out here," Kakashi noted.

"It's a good thing you found me; it's a dangerous world outside the village gates for a helpless civilian girl, kuso" Harune mock frowned.

"Civilian girls don't swear as much as you do," the silver-haired ANBU operative said, bending down and motioning for Harune to jump on piggy-back style.

"Ku-so," the former kunoichi repeated, before hopping onto Kakashi's back. Rolling his eyes at Harune's immaturity, he began walking, taking them both back home to the village.


	8. Civilian Life

_**Hey everyone! :) **_

_**I'm sorry for posting this quite late; I just started back at school so things have gotten really hectic for me and I haven't had much time to write. I'll try my best to keep updating at least once a week. I've also got a little bit of writer's block at the moment, but hopefully this chapter isn't too too awful. Thank you so much for your patience! 3**_

In the short weeks following Harune's demotion to civilian, the 17 year old had wasted no time in securing herself a stable job, followed by a new apartment of her own some month and a half later.

The job she had landed was one for which she was grateful; Yamanaka Inoichi's wife, Himei, was more than happy to hire her as the Yamanaka Flower Shop's main clerk after the Kamineko had explained her dilemma to the wife of her former sensei.

* * *

"I wish I could help you further; I honestly haven't the slightest idea as to when Inoichi will be returning, my dear," Himei had said apologetically when Harune had inquired about his whereabouts.

"That's alright, Himei-san," Harune smiled politely. "Hokage-sama said that he'd reconsider my ruling once Inoichi-sensei got back to Konoha, since he's really the only one that can confirm if I'm telling the truth or not," the black-haired civilian sighed, before turning her attention to little 4 and a half year old Ino, who had taken to tugging on the hem of her pants.

"Harune-nee-chan," she said in her tiny voice, big blue eyes looking up to meet the Kamineko's green ones.

"Hmm?" Harune asked.

"Can you take me to daycare today?" Ino flashed a bright smile, a tactic Harune figured the young Yamanaka had learned would get her anything she asked for. The 17 year old looked up to Himei, who nodded her approval, and Harune laughed lightly.

"Of course, Ino-chan," she smiled, her defining fangs protruding slightly.

* * *

And so began Kamineko Harune's responsibilities as not only the new Yamanaka Flower Shop's store clerk, but as Yamanaka Ino's babysitter. Ino's mother, though not a Konoha ninja like her husband, was often an extremely busy woman who held many duties on account of her deep involvement with Konoha's civilian affairs.

It had become Harune's daily routine to pass by the Yamanaka household every morning to walk Ino to the Academy's Shinobi Daycare, spend the day working at the shop, and then pick up the little blond and take her back home, where Himei would usually be waiting, having just gotten in herself.

During this time, Harune and Ino had come to be well acquainted. Ino had idolized the dark-haired former kunoichi since the day they first met, asking her anything and everything she could think of pertaining to shinobi-dom. While at first regarding the youngest Yamanaka and future clan head as somewhat spoiled and obnoxious, she grew on Harune with each day they spent together until the 17 year old decided that she in fact did care quite deeply for the future kunoichi.

Working in the shop was a simple task, much to Harune's delight; Himei was paying her a good salary for a job that required very little effort on her part. Naturally, there would always be the occasional difficult and highly demanding client, and while not an expert in customer service, Harune had always managed to somehow prevent any serious issues.

Saving up money for a new apartment wasn't difficult either; working full time meant that Harune made more than enough cash in no time to start renting out her own place. Kakashi had at first been reluctant to let her go and move out so quickly; he enjoyed her company when he was around. But the last Kamineko's arguments about how the ANBU operative was away on missions more often than not anyway forced him to let her go.

* * *

"You know I'll come see you whenever you get back from a mission, Kakashi-kun," Harune smiled as she tried to comfort her best friend the day she moved her very sparse belongings to her new home.

"Does this mean I'll be reduced to cup ramen for supper again?" the 19 year old grumbled, taking her only box out of Harune's arms so she could open her door. The light-hearted laugh that came from the civilian in response never failed to make Kakashi smile behind his signature mask.

"Kakashi-kun, you know that you can always come to my place; I'll never not cook for you," she smiled, her green eyes filled with affection for the shinobi. "Although, I don't know why you don't just cook for yourself. You're not half-bad at it."

This last statement was true. In fact, Harune had learned in the first few days of living with Kakashi that the silver-haired jonin was actually a talented cook. Why he settled for dehydrated ramen noodles and constant take-out baffled the 17 year old.

"Well, here we are," she said, pocketing her key and relieving Kakashi of the box he held.

* * *

Harune's apartment was a small one, but it held all the necessities, and the Kamineko loved everything about it. She wasn't an overly materialistic person herself, a quality that played very much in her favour, seeing as she wasn't capable of affording much more.

What she loved most about her new home was that it was so close to the heart of the village, so Harune had no trouble getting to work and to the Academy whenever she needed to. The stubborn ex-jonin never would have admitted it to any of her shinobi friends, but civilian life wasn't nearly as horrible as she had expected it to be.

But it _was_ lonely.

While Harune did enjoy her time at the shop, getting to meet customers and even befriend some of the regulars, the temporary civilian found it difficult being so alienated from the shinobi community in which she had grown up.

Just like she had pointed out to Kakashi when he had tried to convince her to keep living with him, most of Harune's closest friends were more often than not away on missions, leaving the demoted jonin back in Konoha. For the restless and near mission-addicted kunoichi, being tied down to the village, although she tried to make the best of it, was grueling.

* * *

"Harune-nee-chan," Ino's voice pulled her babysitter's head from out of the clouds.

"Hmm?" Harune said absent-mindedly, trying to focus her attention on the little blond holding her hand as they walked to her daycare one sunny morning.

"Do you miss your parents when they go on missions?" the youngest Yamanaka asked, her bright blue eyes looking up to the 17 year old. It had never occurred to the Kamineko that Ino didn't know that her parents were no longer with her.

"Yeah, I miss them a lot," Harune said, thinking back to when she was about the same age as the child walking alongside her. Deciding it was in the almost 5 year old's best interest not to talk about how her parents had died fighting the Kyuubi, she left her answer at that.

"I miss my dad," Ino sighed, looking down, and Harune gave her hand a light, comforting squeeze.

"I know, Ino-chan. Believe me, I know. He was my sensei when you were just a tiny baby," Harune smiled. "He'll be back soon. One day, when you're out on missions, he's going to be saying the same thing!" the Kamineko laughed lightly, before stopping at the entrance.

"Alright, have fun, I'll come back to pick you up later," the black-haired civilian patted Ino on the head rather affectionately, who responded by hugging her around the legs.

"See you later, nee-chan!" the tiny blond said, running off to go meet her friends.

It was Genma who spotted the Kamineko from the Academy lookout, recognizing her by the tattoos on her face made visible when the wind blew her long hair back.

"Hey, what's Harune doing here?" he asked curiously, turning to Kotetsu and Izumo.

"She's here every day," Kotetsu yawned, leaning against the railing.

"Yeah, she babysits the Yamanaka kid, so she drops her off and picks her up at the daycare," Izumo added.

Genma chewed his senbon pensively. He hadn't seen much of the demoted jonin since the day of her trial, and he hadn't given what she was doing as a civilian much thought, being busy with his own responsibilities as the Sandaime's bodyguard.

"Doesn't she work at the flower shop too?" Iwashi asked, remembering the time he went to pick up a bouquet for this civilian girl he had taken out on a date. It hadn't worked out.

He and Raido had just walked up onto the lookout just in time to join in the conversation.

"I guess it would make sense; I'm pretty sure Inoichi-san was her sensei after her team was wiped out," the oldest bodyguard pointed out.

"What would you guys do if you got tied down to the village like that?" Genma asked, watching the dark-skinned Kamineko make her way back into Konoha's downtown area.

"I wouldn't be handling it as well as her," Kotetsu said, turning to do the same as Genma.

"You'd lie around in bed all day, feeling sorry for yourself," Izumo grunted, making his best friend laugh.

"Like I said, not as well as her," he repeated.

"We pretty much are though, aren't we?" Raido said. "We're the guards, so we're always stuck here anyhow."

"It's different though, she's not even recognized as a kunoichi right now; the Sandaime demoted her to simple civilian status," Izumo corrected him. "We can still go on missions, but she's really stuck here."

"We should take her out tonight," Genma thought aloud, snapping his head back up when Harune had finally disappeared from view.

"What, you mean to the bar?" Raido asked. Genma nodded, and Iwashi, Izumo, and Kotetsu all cried out in protest.

"She's only 17, Genma, remember?" Raido reminded his eager comrade.

"So? She looks at least 19, and she's hot; they'd never kick out a hot girl," Genma said bluntly, smirking.

Raido rolled his eyes, but all the shinobi stading there knew that Genma was entirely right.

Harune had always been a pretty girl, but none of them had expected her to come back looking so god damn irresistibly _fine_. It had recently become quite a struggle for the deeply derived shinobi to stop themselves from outright ogling her, purely out of fear that if she noticed, she might make them horribly sorry for it.

"It's settled then, she's coming out with us tonight!" Genma grinned mischievously.

"Are you taking us too? You may as well," Iwashi pushed, hoping that the jonin would feel generous.

The senbon weilder simply scoffed.


	9. Flowers, Kids, and Drinks

_I should've hit him, _Harune thought to herself, fidgeting with the kunai knife she usually kept tucked in her boot, even though she honestly really had no need for it. _For a ninja, he's really shitty at spying, _the former intelligence agent noted, thinking about how obvious Genma had been in watching her drop Ino off that morning. It had taken everything in the Kamineko to control the impulse to whip her kunai at him to show that she had in fact noticed him, just in case the senbon wielder thought he was being ingeniously sneaky.

"Che," the civilian tsked, tossing her weapon on the counter in front of her. Sitting around on a stool all day was not condusive to the ex-jonin's hyperactive inclination. She had managed to get herself stuck in a routine; she'd open up the shop, feed and water the plants, clean the store itself, and putter around uselessly before she finally sat herself down on the stool behind the cash, moping about how she wasn't out on an exciting new mission.

The demoted kunoichi spent most of her time at the empty flower shop developing the control over her chakra flow; concentrating it at her feet, through her legs, arms, to her hands, up to her head and back down to her core. It was a painfully easy exercise; genins could do it, but it was something so basic yet equally as essential to her growth, especially because of the inhuman amount of raw chakra she held in her body.

While her time serving as Orochimaru's subordinate lacked much to be desired, there she was more than encouraged to grow to her full potential as a kunoichi warrior. The defected Sannin's obsessive desire to use Harune's strength for his own cause led the spy to develop a whole new arsenal of jutsus, especially those derived from her new Byaku-Sharingan.

But now that she was leashed to the village, she wouldn't have the opportunity to use any of them; not unless she trained with her shinobi friends.

"Kuso!" the dark haired civilian cursed, having stubbed her toe against the counter out of excitement of that last thought.

She couldn't go on missions.

_But that didn't mean she couldn't train._

Beaming with pride and anticipation at this revelation, Harune looked at the clock, which told her she could leave in 15 minutes.

"Ah, fuck it," the impatient 17 year old said, slipping her kunai back into her boot and closing up shop.

"Harune-nee-chan!" Ino squealed when she noticed her babysitter approaching the Academy.

"Hey, Ino," the 17 year old smiled, patting the Yamanaka when she came to give her a hug around her legs. A pink haired girl who looked to be the same age followed, watching Ino with wide eyes.

"Ino-chan, go continue playing with your friends, I'll take you home when everyone else leaves," Harune said, gently pushing the little blond in the direction of her peers. When Ino caught sight of the shy pinkette, she grabbed her by the hand and tugged her towards the civilian.

"Sakura, this is Harune-nee-chan! She's the one I was telling you about! She's a super strong kunoichi and I'm going to be like her one day!" Ino said proudly. The girl named Sakura waved shyly, hardly daring to look Harune in the eye.

"Hajimemashite, Harune-san," the pinkette said politely, but Harune was slightly worried that the little girl would keel over with anxiety.

"No need to be so formal, Sakura," Harune smiled kindly, hoping not to terrify the little girl with her fangs. "You guys keep playing, alright?"

"Hai!" Ino grinned widely, and ran off, pulling the painfully shy Sakura with her.

"HEEYAH!" a tiny shout came from behind the ex-jonin, who reflexively blocked the incoming attack she felt approaching her. Luckily, the inhumanly strong Kamineko had merely swiped the very unthreatening threat away, and had thankfully not subsequently hurt the child that had ambushed her.

She was a little taller than Ino; Harune figured her to be about 6 or 7 years old, and she had two cute little Chinese style buns sitting on either side of her head. Her big brown eyes were locked on the Kamineko as she picked herself up and dusted herself off, and seemingly out of nowhere she pulled out a set of nunchucks.

Harune couldn't help but grin as the girl came back at her with full force, and did nothing but dodge the cute attempts at attacks rather than block them, simply to humour her.

"Tenten!" the stern voice of the daycare monitor came from a couple meters away from the pair, and the little girl immediately halted, her eyes widened.

"Gomen, sensei," Harune quickly apologized when she noticed the dangerously strict look in the invigilator's eyes. "It was my fault, I shouldn't have gone along with it," she said, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly. The girl called Tenten hid behind the ex-jonin's legs.

With a disapproving look, the invigilator turned away to focus her attention to the other children playing the yard. Harune turned down to face the little girl, flashing a little eye smile reminiscent of Kakashi's.

"A-arigato gozaimasu," Tenten said, standing up straight under the ex-jonin's gaze and bowing.

"Doitashimashite," the Kamineko laughed lightly. "You've got pretty good moves," she said, eyeing the nunchucks Tenten still held in her hands.

"You're amazing," the child replied, half- awestruck at her opponent's skill, half-disappointed with her own. The dejected look she had made Harune bend down to meet her at eye-level.

"I've been a kunoichi for more than 10 years, it's just something that comes with practice. Obviously you need work, but your talent in bukijutsu shows," the kenjutsu specialist grinned encouragingly. At this, Tenten's eyes grew wide with excitement.

"You think? I love my weapons," she giggled, and, once again seemingly as if out of nowhere, the 6 year old pulled out a whole arsenal of weaponry, dropping it on the ground in front of her.

"Kuso," Harune muttered, looking around quickly in the direction of the invigilator, hoping she wouldn't see the child's assortment of kunai, maces, and shuriken. "Put those away before I get in trouble again!"

"Oh, hai!" Tenten obeyed automatically, shoving her tools back into the little pouch strapped on her waist. Harune hadn't noticed it until now, but there was no way that all those weapons fit in there. And she was right; Tenten's bag was overflowing. The civilian wondered how the child's arsenal hadn't been found out yet.

"Tenten!" a woman called from the Academy gates.

"Coming!" the little girl called back, turning to run to whom Harune assumed to be her mother. "Sayonara, senpai!" she waved to the 17 year old before darting off.

"Senpai, huh? It seems as though you've got some fans," Genma's voice chuckled from behind Harune, making her jump.

"Kuso," she hissed, shoving Genma on the shoulder, only to his amusement.

"Miss shinobi life so much that you hang out at the Academy nowadays, eh?" the senbon weilder grinned, slipping both bands in his pockets and adopting a sort of casual slouch.

"I'm thinking of reapplying; I heard all you need is a strong will and motivation," Harune replied sarcastically.

"Working at the flower shop isn't exciting enough for you?" Genma chuckled, subtly checking out the ex-jonin. Not having noticed, Harune rolled her eyes at his comment and turned to face her attention to the remaining group of children playing who had not yet been picked up by their parents. A little blond boy who wore a t-shirt bearing his clan symbol on the front caught her attention in particular. He looked so familiar, and yet the 17 year old couldn't quite figure out why.

"It's boring as hell, Genma-kun," she sighed, exasperated. "I just really need Inoichi-sensei to come back." For a moment, the Kamineko looked so desperately discouraged and disappointed that Genma couldn't help but feel sorry for her.

"Hey, I know something that'll cheer you up a bit, Haru-chan," the 22-year-old grinned.

"If it's dirty, I don't wanna hear it, Genma," Harune warned, shooting her friend a dangerous look, unintentionally sparking Genma's very vivid and provocative imagination.

"It's… it's not…dirty," Genma tried to assure her, choking slightly on his words and fighting the urge to get lost in his perverted thoughts. Harune eyed him suspiciously, not believing him for a second.

"Some of the guys and I are hitting up the bar tonight. I was just thinking that you might want to come," the bodyguard said, feeling rather uncharacteristically nervous about asking the ex-kunoichi to hang out with them. Harune simply smiled, all trace of suspicion leaving her expression almost instantly.

"I'm so down," she said, putting her hands in her back pockets. "I haven't seen any of you guys in the longest time, it'll be really nice just to chill."

"Good, I wouldn't have taken no for an answer anyway," Genma winked. "I'll pass by your place later and we can go together, yeah?" Harune nodded.

"Sounds good, it'll give me time to take Ino-chan back home and all that," the Kamineko turned her attention back to the kids. Most of them were leaving with their parents by now, and Harune noticed Ino saying goodbye to Sakura. The little blond boy was waving to his friends.

"Harune-nee-chan, everyone's leaving, we should go too," the youngest Yamanaka called, running towards her babysitter.

"Alright, I'll take you home," Harune said absent-mindedly, not being able to take her eyes off the boy.

_Why the hell did he look so familiar? _She thought, furrowing her brow. The intuitive ex-jonin knew that she knew the symbol he was sporting on his t-shirt, but she couldn't remember what it stood for for the life of her. Even more troubling, the boy didn't seem to have any parents coming for him, and watching him walk off alone was upsetting.

"-une… Harune… HARUNE!" Genma snapped, forcing the 17-year-old to focus on him.

_"__What?!"_ she snapped back indignantly.

"I was saying, I'll let you do your thing and I'll see you later," Genma chuckled lightly, amused by his friend's defensiveness.

"Oh, yeah, yeah... ok," Harune nodded, smiling again, though still slightly dazed. With a wink, Genma strolled back towards the Academy, leaving the civilian with Ino.


	10. Firsts

Harune was much more excited for her outing to the bar than she thought she should have been; then again, she hadn't actually gone out with her friends for the night in her life, so she told herself that it was totally acceptable.

While she was ecstatic to actually have plans for the evening, Genma's invitation had caused the thoughtful ex-kunoichi to reflect on her life. She initially felt ridiculously melodramatic for it, but it was this invitation that made Harune realize that something that seemed so casual and normal to her jonin counterpart was anything but for her.

The Kamineko had spent the peak years of her adolescence on the life-threatening task of serving as Orochimaru's subordinate. Consequently, she had missed out on the teenage experience. Granted, this wasn't her main concern throughout the three years she was experimented on and exploited, and a shinobi's adolescence was hardly considered "normal", however it was still something Harune wished she could have shared with her friends.

Harune had frequently found herself wondering what sort of life she could have ended up leading had she never left on that mission those three years ago. On one of her lazy afternoons in the flowershop, she had decided that she would've probably been an ANBU captain, like Kakashi, but then she realized that it would have been just as likely that she worked in the Intelligence Division, seeing as she was the Head's subordinate. Feeling that both positions were plausible, the imaginative ex-jonin contented herself with both.

As for her friendships, it didn't take any musing to know that she definitely would have ended up much closer to all the members of her little shinobi family.

Harune's biggest regret, she realized, was the fact that she hadn't been able to be there for Kakashi. Of course, her introverted best friend had been nothing but pleasantly happy around her since her return, but the look in his eyes when he thought she wasn't looking was pained and broken. The feline summoner knew that her three year absence was more than just tough on the Hatake; it completely destroyed him.

While he was usually away on missions, the rare occasions Kakashi was in the village were concerning to Harune. He never accepted any of their friends' invitations to hang out; whenever Gai would call out to him on the street from their regular table at the dango shop, the silver-headed jonin would simply look at the group before walking away.

Spending time with the group herself led Harune to find that the group attributed Kakashi's disregard for all of them to the deaths of Rin, Obito, and Minato-sensei, and they weren't completely wrong. Harune was relieved, if not even glad, that her shinobi comrades understood that much, and that they would never turn their backs on her best friend.

_Be careful out there, Kakashi-kun,_ the former ANBU operative thought, tying his old red scarf around her waist like a belt, a habit she had formed in her days with Orochimaru.

The sound of Genma's fist banging on her front door pulled Harune out of her thoughts.

"Hey," he said casually, senbon upturned in his signature smirk. This time, he wasn't discrete in admiring the demoted kunoichi, but Harune wasn't bothered at all by it. Rather, quite uncharacteristically, a red hot blush rose up in her cheeks, and it was all she could do to be grateful for her dark complexion.

"Hey," she answered, stepping out and closing the door behind her.

"Everyone's really excited to see you," the senbon-wielder chuckled as they began walking.

"Who's coming?" Harune asked, running her hand through her hair to keep her overgrown bangs out of her face.

"Hmm, Raido, Gai, Asuma, Kurenai, you, and little old me," Genma said, walking with his hands in his pockets. Harune was looking straight ahead as they talked, but he was finding it especially difficult not to keep glancing at the girl beside him and admiring her beauty.

"Ouh, I'm the only minor there. I feel so badass," Harune laughed sarcastically.

"It's all good, you look old enough. Hell, you probably look older than Kurenai!" Genma replied.

"It's the scar, I think," the ex-jonin joked, but the slight hint of ruefulness that made itself known in her voice didn't go unnoticed by Genma, who smiled sympathetically.

"You ready to get plastered tonight?" he changed the subject, throwing his arm around the girl's shoulder. She didn't shrug it off.

"I've never gotten drunk before," Harune admitted. While Genma somewhat knew this piece of relatively obvious information, it still surprised him a bit to hear her say it. Alcohol was an important part of the 22-year-old jonin's life. Even in his adolescence the senbon specialist had found a sense of comfort and euphoria that could only be achieved in a drunken state. It wasn't long after he discovered this that Genma became a regular at Konoha's downtown bar, oftentimes bringing if not the whole group, at least one drinking buddy, and it was usually Raido. The bartender knew the elite bodyguard by name, as well as his favourite drinks, how many beers got him tipsy, and how many glasses of sake knocked him out. It wasn't uncommon to find the jonin wandering Konoha's dark streets in the middle of the night, drunkenly trying to find his way back home, and while their friends recognized the dangers of Genma's ever-growing alcoholism, they didn't have the heart to intervene. Every shinobi had their vice, their way of coping, and alcohol was Genma's.

So when Harune admitted to him that she had never gotten drunk, and especially when he knew her past and the ordeals she had suffered, the elite bodyguard couldn't wrap his mind around how she managed to maintain her composure so well. It also made him feel slightly weak for having to turn to booze just to get through his days and live on as a shinobi.

"Trust me, it's fun as hell," Genma chuckled, kind of hoping to actually see the ex-kunoichi drunk. He had her pegged as the fun kind. "Here we are," he winked, holding the bar door open for her and guiding her in with his hand at the small of her back.

"Harune!" Gai roared from the group's booth at the back of the bar. Waving eagerly, the 17 year old darted through the crowd, and let the eccentric green-clad jonin hug her. By the time Genma had caught up with her, the rest of the group had already greeted her, and she was pulling up a chair for herself from the table beside them.

"Genma," Asuma greeted the tokubetsu jonin with a nod, and Kurenai, who was sitting beside him, smiled warmly.

"Yo," Genma replied, sitting himself down next to Harune. "Where's Raido?" he asked, looking around for his best friend.

"Getting rounds," Gai said eagerly. Genma nodded approvingly.

"What do you like to drink, Harune?" Asuma asked, putting out a cigarette butt on the ashtray on the table. Harune shrugged.

"Never been drinking before," she laughed lightly.

"I think I know what you'd like," Genma cocked his brow, and got up quickly to join Raido at the bar.

"Harune, I didn't know you were already 18," Kurenai said in her usual, gentle voice. Harune had always found it soothing and had a special admiration for the kunoichi, who was able to preserve an air of beautiful femininity; it was something the suspended jonin had never been capable of doing herself.

"I'm not," Harune smiled sheepishly.

"S'alright, she looks old enough, besides," Genma cut in, placing a few beers on the table, followed by Raido, who did the same. "—when's your birthday, Harune-chan?"

"April 4th," the girl named spring said. Genma looked up in the air as he counted the months between now and then.

"8 months," he calculated, and sat down while Raido scooted his way into the booth, giving Harune a small wave, which she returned cheerfully.

"You aren't going to be any more mature in 8 months from now anyway, so why deprive you of something as great as the bar experience?" the senbon weilder deduced, handing Harune a bottle of beer.

"It's not about maturity, it's about legality," Kurenai argued, but made no move to get Harune kicked out. The chuunin had no qualms with their demoted friend drinking with them, but she always felt the need to correct the childish bodyguard. His immaturity annoyed her more often than not, and she especially didn't like the way he was buttering the girl five years his junior up, eyeing her in ways he really shouldn't be.

"No one has to know," Harune winked mischievously, and cracked open the bottle with her teeth before taking a swig.

"You're right, Genma-kun, I like this," she smirked, and chugged the bottle, much to the group's amazement. Gai, naturally, saw this as a challenge.

"Seeing as Kakashi isn't here, Harune, I've decided that you shall be my rival tonight," the green-clad jonin sitting beside her declared, and handed her another bottle.

"You're on, Bowl-cut," she laughed. The troublesome glint in Harune's eyes was more prominent than ever, and everyone knew that they were in for one hell of a night.

They weren't wrong.

The group talked and laughed, told stupid jokes and shared stories about their recent missions. Harune had never felt more at home; her friends included her and made her feel as though she had never left. The only thing missing was Kakashi; Harune wished he could have been there sitting next to her, and having a drinking competition with her and Gai. It wasn't long, however, before she started getting really dizzy, and all thoughts of Kakashi left her now clouded mind. Focusing on her friends, she couldn't help but smile when she noticed Asuma and Kurenai flirting, and laughed out loud when Raido nearly fell over trying to stand up to get more drinks.

"Har- Harune," Gai hiccupped, sliding another beer in her direction. Between themselves alone, the pair had already managed to down 18 beers, and both were feeling it heavily. Genma had been keeping an eye on the girl throughout the night, and while she was obviously very tipsy, laughing at absolutely everything and occasionally knocking an empty bottle over accidentally, the mischievous senbon weilder wanted to get her even more intoxicated, for no reason in particular. He himself was decently wasted, but it was still relatively early, and the night held much potential.

"Number 10," she giggled, and clinked her bottle with Gai's.

"How you doing, Haru-chan," Genma asked as the girl finished her bottle, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. Harune crinkled her nose and giggled. Genma thought it was really cute.

"Your breath smells like sake and vodka," she noted, and took a stray shot of vodka that had been sitting on the table. Genma wondered when their faces had gotten so close together.

"There," the ex-jonin said, satisfaction in her voice. "Now we both smell like vodka."

"Are you having fun, you little drunk?" Genma asked. His vision was hazy, and if he was going to be honest with himself, he didn't smell any beer or vodka on Harune. Rather, a very sweet and simultaneously metallic scent emanated from her, and he felt compelled to kiss her. He would have, and almost did, but a loud thump from behind stopped him.

"Gai!" Harune cried, leaping up to help her friend, who had passed out and fell over on the floor in a rather painful way.

"Kuso," she grunted, trying to lift the weight of Gai's body and sit him back up in the booth. He was completely knocked out, but the fall had given him a cut just above his bushy eyebrow, and was bleeding profusely. Seeing Gai vulnerable somehow sobered Harune nearly instantly, and she focused all her energy on helping him.

"Up we go," she murmured as she pulled him up, straddling him on the bench to keep him upright.

"Come on, Gai, wake up," she muttered, slapping him gently on the cheek, and reaching for the napkins on the cluttered table. Genma watched idly, as did Asuma and Kurenai; all three of them were still very drunk and unsure of what was going on or what to do. Raido had fallen asleep on the table, and was snoring loudly.

Harune dipped a napkin in the pitcher of water that was conveniently sitting on the table. She suddenly remembered the bartender bringing it to them; he probably figured they had all had more than enough to drink. She took a large gulp of it and was immediately glad she had; she hadn't realized how thirsty she was until then.

"Oh, Gai-kun," the ex-kunoichi sighed, mopping the blood away. This was one of those moments when she wished she was a real medic-nin, and could use healing chakra as Rin had. In the meantime, she had to work with what she had, and so the resourceful civilian pulled off the wrappings she kept on her right arm, and wrapped them around Gai's wounded head.

No one else in the bar seemed to notice the whole affair; it was quite loud and busy that night.

The Green Beast of the Leaf still hadn't woken up, worrying Harune a great deal, and she threw him up over her shoulder fire-man style.

"I'm taking this guy home," she said, and gave a small wave to Asuma and Kurenai, who responded in kind, even though they looked a little dazed. "Make sure he gets home ok too," she said to Genma, motioning to Raido. "Take care," she gave a small smile, and hauled Gai off.

Thankful that Gai didn't live too far from the bar, Harune dropped him off. She had considered taking him to the hospital, but the eccentric jonin had woken up just as they had reached his apartment.

"What the hell happened?" he groaned, wincing when Harune put him down.

"You passed out and busted your head open," she replied, not unkindly. "You're home now though. You totally lost by the way," she joked.

"Ugh, I'll spend the rest of my life challenging you and Kakashi until I beat you!" Gai declared with great determination before turning to enter his apartment. Harune chuckled.

"Good luck," she winked, turning on her heel to leave. "Sleep on your side and drink loads of water," she smiled, and walked off, hands in her pockets.

Now that she knew that Gai was alright, Harune could feel her sobriety slipping away, and the effects of the alcohol creeping back up on her. She was nearly halfway home when a familiar voice called her from behind.

The Kamineko had to squint to see who it was in the dark, but it wasn't ong before she recognized Genma's silhouette approaching her.

She stopped, and tilted her head slightly as she watched the bodyguard stagger his way toward her. He was still quite drunk.

"Hey, Genma-kun," the tipsy civilian greeted. "Did the others go home too?"

The senbon-weilder nodded. Harune furrowed her brow.

"Don't you live that way?" she asked, motioning behind Genma, who nodded again, and finally opened his mouth to speak.

"I wanted to make sure you got home ok," he said gruffly, looking the girl straight in the eye. She was so goddamned beautiful. "C'mon, I'll walk you," he said. "You've taken care of Gai, it's only fair someone makes sure you're alright."

At this, Harune smiled gratefully. For the first time, she realized how damn attractive the tokubetsu jonin was. She loved the light-brown colour of his eyes, and his shaggy golden-brown hair that he kept in check under the hitai-ate he wore as a bandana. He hadn't worn his vest that night, so she could make out the outlines of his chiseled chest where the wind blew his uniform shirt up against his body. Cursing herself internally for the thoughts that started running through her head, she began to walk, and Genma followed.

The pair walked in relative silence; both of them were too tipsy, and the sexual tension hanging over them didn't leave much for them to casually talk about.

When they finally reached her front door, Genma sighed, rubbing the back of his head.

"Genma-kun," Harune said slowly, just as she unlocked her door. "It's late already, do you wanna just crash at my place? I'd feel bad if you had to walk all the way back; you live kind of far from here."

The answer she got was not what she expected. Genma crashed his lips against hers, pushing her up against her front door and lifting her so he wouldn't have to crouch down. Harune wrapped her legs around him in response, and the jonin's hands wandered her body until one hand held both her arms up against the door by her wrists, and the other felt its way up and down her left thigh hugging his waist.

The pressure in Genma's pants was growing rapidly, and Harune felt it rise against her, making her crave the man before her even more.

"Genma-kun," she breathed heavily, breaking the kiss. "Let's at least get inside first, yeah?" Turning the doorknob, the pair swung into the apartment, not having broken apart. The elite bodyguard kicked the door back shut and carried the woman wrapped around him to her room, throwing her on the bed.

It took everything in Genma's power not to lose complete control; he had wanted this girl ever since she had gotten back, that much he knew, but it wasn't until he saw her lying on the bed before him that he realized just _how_ badly he wanted her. After he stripped her down to her underwear, he took off his own clothes, revealing his ripped chest.

Harune couldn't believe what was happening. Part of her wanted to stop it before it got any further, but the other part, the stronger part, wanted Genma. Bad. She wanted him to kiss her, touch her, and she wanted to feel him inside her.

The jonin kneeled between her legs, shirtless, and took a moment to admire the woman lying in front of him. Harune was beautiful, and Genma found her body to be near perfect. Her dark skin was warm and smooth, but heavily scarred, and Genma didn't want to even try to imagine what she had been through. Suddenly, something occurred to him, and the 22-year-old leaned forward to kiss Harune.

"You're still virgin, aren't you?" he asked gently, caressing her body. Harune looked up, green eyes meeting brown. She nodded, running her hands through the jonin's hair. It was surprisingly soft, and felt amazing.

Genma swallowed hard, preparing himself to have to potentially regain all sense of self-restraint.

"Are you sure you're okay with this?" he asked, visibly struggling with his decision to ask, and hoping dearly she said yes.

The girl lying beneath him just laughed; it was a cheerful laugh, and probably the most genuine sound of joy Genma had ever heard come from her. Harune pulled the jonin's face down and pressed her lips against his.

"You wouldn't have gotten this far if I wasn't okay with it, Genma-kun," she teased, much to the bodyguard's relief. He responded by flashing Harune a troublesome smirk, and left of trail of kisses from her lips all the way down to her womanhood.

A tiny moan escaped the Kamineko's lips as Genma hovered his mouth between her legs, before pulling off her underwear. She was so wet and so painfully inviting, but it was her first time, and Genma was determined to make it fucking amazing. He carefully dipped his fingers into her entrance, relishing in the sounds she was making. Her moans alone were enough to send him over the edge, but he forced himself to hold it. He went in and ate her out, taking in her sweetness and fucking her deeply with his tongue. The moment his tongue came down on her, Harune grabbed him by the hair, forcing him to keep going. This encouragement drove Genma mad, and with a hard thrust of his fingers, he came up to give her tits some love. He began to suck on one, and before long it was plump and round. Not wanting to leave the other one out, he began rolling her nipple between his fingertips, and kissed her hungrily. By now, Harune was grinding down on his fingers, silently begging for him to enter her fully.

"Ge…Genma-ah-ahh," she moaned, "Puh-please." Genma watched the girl writhe in pleasure beneath him, her eyes half-closed as she felt him all over her body.

"Please what," he teased in her ear. His svelte voice drove her crazy, and in retaliation, she slipped her hand into his boxers and stroked his pulsating member. The urgency and unexpectedness of the act destroyed what little was left of Genma's self-control, and sliding out of his boxers, he grabbed Harune's hand and pinned it above her head, holding her in place while he pushed himself deep into her. The loud gasp that escaped her lips reminded him to be more gentle with her, and he paused for a moment, allowing her to adjust to the new and overwhelming sensation. The hand that wasn't pinned down had found its way to the back of his neck, and the unfamiliar feelings of mixed pain and pleasure caused Harune to hold a tight grip in Genma's hair, long set free from the confines of his hitai-ate. When he felt her grip slacken, Genma took this as permission to keep going, and before long, moans were coming from both ninja as the elite bodyguard pounded deep into the girl. Higher and higher she lifted her legs until they were resting on Genma's bare shoulders, allowing him to hit her G-spot with every thrust. The pleasure was so incredibly overpowering for Harune, and soon she was clinging onto the man inside her as they both climaxed, the sound of his muttered 'oh fuck's turning her on.

Slowly, Genma slid out of the girl, and with a satisfied groan, he let himself fall beside her limp body. Without a word, he pulled her into him, and the two fell asleep almost immediately.


	11. Training

Harune awoke the next morning extremely thirsty and feeling as though she had just come out of a coma. With a small groan, she stretched gracefully and let out a yawn. It took her a lot longer than it should have for her to realize that there was a man lying next to her, concealed almost completely by the covers. When she had taken notice, however, it was her grogginess that prevented her from beating the unwelcome stranger senseless.

The 17 year old watched the rise and fall of the mass of blankets as the man beside her breathed; it was rhythmic and surprisingly calming to her. It was only when the stranger turned over to reveal his sleeping face did Harune become fully cognizant of the events that had occurred the night before.

_Maybe it was a dream. Maybe I just let him crash and we just slept in the same bed, that's all,_ she thought, but the feeling of her comforter against her bare skin told her otherwise. She checked just to be sure.

_Kuso_, she cursed herself inwardly, but couldn't ignore the deep feeling of satisfaction and euphoria that was creeping up on her. Memories of the previous night kept playing back in her head, coming to her clearer and clearer the more she thought about it. Harune looked down at the snoring jonin with a certain fondess.

_He's fucking amazing,_ she thought, her eyes half closed as she remembered how good he had made her feel. It made her want more.

Sighing, Harune rolled out of bed and threw on Genma's shirt—she couldn't find her own amid the mess of garments on the floor—before shuffling off to the washroom. When she came back, her one-night-stand was sitting on the edge of the bed, pulling on his pants.

"Yo," he said when he caught notice of the small but strong figure standing in the doorway.

"Ohayo," she replied, walking in slowly, crossing her arms over her chest.

"How are you feeling? Cuz I have a massive hangover," Genma laughed, looking up at Harune, who was now standing in front of him. He had to admit, she looked damn hot in his shirt.

"I'm fine," the girl said, arms still crossed firmly. "Do you want water? Or maybe something to eat?"

Genma smiled. Not a smirk, like he usually did, but a genuine smile, one that reached his eyes.

"Maybe just something to drink, Harune," he said, but as she turned to leave, he took hold of her wrist, holding her back.

"Genma—" the Kamineko protested, unable to keep from losing her balance and finding herself in the senbon specialist's lap. He kissed her before letting her stand back up again.

Laughing lightly, Harune went to bring Genma a glass of water, but not before she snagged a spare toothbrush from her bathroom.

"Here," the ex-kunoichi chuckled, tossing the toothbrush at him and handing him the glass. "Your breath smells like sake and vodka," she quoted herself from the night before, amusement in her voice.

"You seemed to like it last night," Genma grumbled indignantly, pushing his shaggy brown hair out of his face.

"That wasn't the only thing I enjoyed last night," Harune smiled mischievously, sitting herself down on the edge of the bed beside Genma, who eyed her with an expression of self-satisfaction and subtle surprise at Harune's very flirtatious behaviour.

The previous night, for him, was hands-down one of the best he had had in a very long time. The "experienced" jonin couldn't remember the last time he had slept with a girl and enjoyed it as much as he had with Harune.

"So no regrets?" he asked, sticking the toothbrush in his mouth in lieu of the regular senbon. With a smile, Harune shook her head, and let herself fall backwards onto the bed.

"Just—" she began, looking up at the ceiling above her. Genma turned around to look down at her. "—just as long as this doesn't become anything more. No offence, but you're not my type, Genma-kun." Truth be told, Harune did somewhat regret her actions from the night before. While she enjoyed the sex, she couldn't help but shake the feeling that she would have rather saved her first time for someone other than the playboy jonin. Who that other someone was, she could only guess.

"None taken, I think that would be the best. Now give me my shirt, I got to go to work," Genma chuckled, sliding his hand up Harune's torso, kissing her body as he moved up and slid his uniform shirt over her head. Seeing her chest exposed to him once more tempted him to skip his morning shift and just fuck her all over again, but, taking a deep breath, he restrained himself.

"Hmm, see you later," Harune smirked, completely aware of Genma's inner struggle not to bang her right then and there. With a quick "un", Genma pulled on his shirt and darted out before he could lose control again.

And so Harune continued her days as a civilian. She and Genma, despite having decided to keep their relationship strictly platonic, could hardly keep their hands off each other when they had enough to drink. The jonin-civilian duo were at least tactful enough to keep their affair on the down-low; while their friends picked up on their subtle flirts, they hadn't the slightest clue as to how involved the pair actually were. It was best that way too; gossip spread through the shinobi community like wildfire.

Between her shifts at the flowershop and the time she spent at the Academy (she had taken a huge liking to all of the kids there), Harune had taken to training as though she were still a practicing kunoichi. When she had initially suggested the idea of continuing to train, it was Gai who leapt at the opportunity to assist her in her endeavours. Harune was more than grateful; not only was Gai a ridiculously perseverant trainer, but the ex-jonin needed to improve her taijutsu as well. When it came to her kenjutsu and chakra manipulation, she trained most often with Genma and Asuma, the latter working diligently with her to develop both of their chakra-nature manipulation jutsus. Finally, after having been blessed with the Sharingan thanks to her Uchiha mother, Harune was naturally already very proficient in genjutsu, but she thought it necessary to further develop her skills with Kurenai.

Her favourite training was when she was with Genma and Asuma. Gai's proficiency in taijutsu made up for his lesser skills in ninjutsu and genjutsu, and while he could use chakra, he preferred not to train with it. It was his philosophy that conditioning their bodies to fight without enhancing their strength with chakra would make their bodies much more resistant. Upon hearing this explanation, Harune had also pointed out that should they ever run low on chakra, they wouldn't necessarily have to rely on it to keep fighting. Her eccentric green-clad friend was so overwhelmingly proud of her revelation that he was actually moved to tears the first time she had brought it up.

"Now _that_ is the power of youth!" he sniffled, pulling the girl only two years his junior into a rib-crushing hug.

This no-chakra training policy with Gai forced Harune to become naturally very physically strong, and even moreso when she focused her chakra into her blows. As a result, Genma and Asuma initially had a great deal of difficulty keeping up with her sheer speed and power, which amused the labelled "civilian" immensely.

It didn't take long, however, before the bodyguard and Hokage's son caught up to the young ex-kunoichi, and once they did, they made it their personal mission to give their junior comrade the most difficult time they possibly could, Genma especially. Harune loved training with these two particularly because they forced her to push herself to her very limit.

"C'mon, Genma, toughen up a bit," the 17 year old coerced the senbon user, breathing heavily. It was a particularly warm day, for late September, and the trio were sparring using what they called "The Bell Drill": the exercise used by the late Yondaime, the husband of Harune's former sensei, Uzumaki Kushina. The three jonin took turns as the bell keeper, but Harune usually enjoyed the task the most.

Asuma, working in collaboration with Genma, had long since disappeared, and Harune was forced to keep a special eye out for him; she was almost grateful to Orochimaru for infusing her Sharingan with the Byakugan of the Hyuuga, although having grown up without one, the very capable Kamineko had learned how to keep an eye out for oncoming attacks without it.

But it _did_ help.

"Che, you're practically cheating with all your fancy-ass ninjutsu," the senbon specialist argued, tightening his hitai-ate.

"Awn, I dare you to complain like that to a real opponent," Harune mocked him, but resheathed her katana, and manoeuvred herself into a taijutsu stance Gai had taught her. "But, if you want, I'll make things a little easier for you," she winked. All the while she kept her eyes and ears peeled for any signs of the wind-natured jonin. They were in a clearing, and as far as she could tell, he hadn't gone as far back as into the woods. There was no way he could be up in the sky, meaning the only other place he could have been hiding, was below. She sent a powerful blow down into the ground, forcing Genma to leap out of the way of the shockwaves that ensued, to no avail. Asuma came flying out of his hiding spot underground, and both of them had to take a moment to readjust.

"You're making this too easy," Harune laughed, and placed her hands on her hips. The bells, hanging from the beltloop of her pants, jingled in the wind. Despite Harune's air of confidence, it was painfully obvious that the three jonin had exhausted each other out, but they were all too stubborn to give up.

Genma and Asuma stared at the girl before them in disbelief. Ever since she was but a genin, the last Kamineko had been well known for her superior strength and aptitude in nearly every facet of a capable ninja, but they never could have imagined the extent of the raw strength that she truly possessed.

_She could easily become Hokage,_ Genma thought, before decisively charging at her once more with full force.

Harune loved Genma as a friend and comrade, but resented him as an opponent, mainly because of his senbon. He could spit them at her with enough force to run straight through her body. He had, in fact, hit her on a couple of occasions during previous trainings, and the scars left by those wounds served as a permanent reminder to Harune to never, ever, under any circumstances, let his senbon attacks land on her. It was much easier said than done.

Asuma watched as his two friends sparred. He was still recovering from the shock of having been knocked so violently out of the ground. He chuckled as he watched Genma and Harune fight, kunai to katana.

_She never lets anyone have the upper hand,_ he thought, admiring the ex-kunoichi's kenjutsu. She was the only person he had ever seen dual wield, and her skills rivaled those of Gekko Hayate, one of Konoha's best swordsmen.

Asuma furrowed his brow when he realized that Harune was retreating further and further back with every blow Genma struck. At first it appeared as though he was finally tiring her out, or at least Genma thought that this was the case.

Just as the observing Sarutobi realized what she was up to, Harune, having let herself as fall as far back as possible, quickly resheather her katana. The hand seals she then proceeded to sign were so quick that he hardly had the time to warn his teammate of the oncoming attack.

Slamming her palm down on the ground, the turf below Genma immediately began to shift, sucking the bodyguard in.

"Kuso!" he cursed, but could not do anything to counter the attack.

Asuma made a move to get up and avenge his comrade, but it was only then that he realized Genma hadn't been the only victim of Harune's earth manipulation.

"Better luck next time, boys," the Kamineko smiled, letting out a deep breath, as she finally relaxed her tired body and released her friends.

"That's so unfair," Genma muttered, dusting himself off.

"Oh, go on, whine, bitch, moan, and complain. Sparring isn't supposed to be easy, Genma," Harune replied, helping Asuma out of the pit she had created. "You're just a sore loser," she shot a sideways glance at him, but the tone in her voice was playful. Genma just snorted.

"Whatever. I gotta go now; Raido's probably gonna kill me for leaving him with all the morning work," the senbon weilder waved goodbye, and shunshined off.

"He's a sore loser," Asuma assured Harune, who simply laughed.

"Oh, I know," she smiled, her fangs protruding slightly. "You guys are really strong though. It's tough being bell keeper, which is why I love it so much." Sitting herself down on a nearby boulder, Harune began to tend to the place on her arm that Genma had struck with a kunai. She hadn't noticed the sad look Asuma had in his eyes.

"I feel like I should apologize on behalf of my father for your situation," he said suddenly. Harune stopped mending the gash and looked up at him.

"Why?" the ex-jonin asked, confusion evident on her scarred face.

"You've been living as a plain civilian for weeks now," Asuma said, taking the bandages Harune was holding and helping her wrap them around her arm.

"3 and a half months," Harune specified. "Don't worry about it, I guess he's just doing what he feels needs to be done. He's got a lot of responsibilities as Hokage, and he probably knows a lot more than I do about anything. Inoichi-sensei should be back soon, and then I'll be off on missions again in no time," she said cheerfully. Asuma couldn't look her in the eye. He should have told her right away. He kept wrapping up her arm.

"Inoichi-san has already been back for a couple of weeks," he said, and noticed Harune tense at this news.

"Why didn't anyone tell me?" she asked quietly, more to herself than to Asuma, but watched him carefully with hard eyes.

"I don't know. I'm telling you because I think you should go and talk to him and my father," the jonin said, and, finishing his crude medical work, he finally looked up at Harune.

"Thanks, Asuma," the ex-jonin said, slightly worried by the grave look in his face. With a nod, Asuma helped her up from her seat on the rock.

"Good luck," he said, and shunshined off.


	12. Suppressed Memories

"Hokage-sama!" Harune stormed into Hiruzen's office, followed by a very anxious Raido, who seemed to have been trying to stop her. He had been told not to let anyone in to see the Sandaime for the time being, but he could only do so much to keep the angered ex-kunoichi at bay.

Yamanaka Inoichi turned to face his former student, and Hiruzen poked his head out from behind him, sitting at his desk.

Harun had had a whole lecture to give the Sandaime about his treatment of her over the course of the past 3 and some years, but seeing her sensei standing in front of her put her at a loss for words. Then, as quickly as she was calmed, a new wave of anger flooded her, and she snapped her gaze down to the Sandaime.

"We will await Yamanaka Inoichi-san's return to Konoha, and then we will determine your innocence or not," the suspended jonin quoted one of the elders from the day of her trial.

"Harune," the Hokage began, but Harune cut him off.

"You already knew I didn't commit half of the crimes that were rumoured, and the ones I did, I- I would do anything to take back what I did, whether I had control over them or not. But none of it, _none of it_, would have happened had you not sent me in to go spy on Orochimaru! Not that I'm not happy to fight for this village, you know I would die for Konoha, but you promised… You promised you'd rule me innocent, and then you let those elders just bully you into suspending me! I waited patiently for Inoichi-sensei to come back; I waited for months, and I've done nothing but follow your orders, because you're the Hokage. Your orders are absolute, and to betray you would be to betray Konoha… but this is too much, Hokage-sama. I just found out that Inoichi-sensei has been back for a while, so I don't understand. I don't understand why you're doing this to me!" she vented, her voice raised.

"Harune!" Inoichi silenced her, more assertively than Hiruzen had. She stopped, and his expression softened when he saw the pain and confusion in her eyes that she tried so desperately to hide.

"When you had relayed all your findings to me back then, I had found on my own part that there were some gaps in your conscious memory. I found what was missing, obviously, deep in your subconscious. It seems as though Orochimaru didn't want you to know or remember certain things about him," Inochi said, watching Harune carefully for any signs to show that she was aware of this information.

"Like what?" Harune asked, brows furrowed in confusion. "What could he have possibly not wanted me to remember? I mean, everything seems pretty crystal clear in my head; I remember all the hideouts we stayed at, and I sure as hell remember every damn experiment. He never even knew I was there under the Hokage's orders," she assured them. Inoichi sighed.

"A lot of what you think you remember are actually just false memories. Orochimaru planted them there so you wouldn't notice the gaps, nor would anyone else, save someone with superior reconnaissance abilities," he explained.

"Like you," Harune whispered, mostly to herself. "So why would he do that?"

"Like I said, I found what was missing, in your subconscious. The memories you have from when you were about 14 and 16 are relatively accurate; Orochimaru didn't touch those," Inoichi said.

"And what happened when I was 15?" Harune asked, racking her brain for any answers she might find.

"He used you as a spy. You infiltrated the Akatsuki. Are you familiar with them?" Hiruzen asked, joining in the conversation. Harune shifted to look at him. Her expression was focused as she desperately searched her memory for any mention of the Akatsuki. She shook her head solemnly. Hiruzen sighed.

"Describe them," Harune said, determined to remember.

"They work in pairs. Your team member was a red head, about your age. They all wear black cloaks with red clouds imprinted on them. Does any of this sound familiar?" Inoichi recounted the surpressed memories he had found deep in his former pupil's memory. They were vague even to him; Orochimaru had really done his utmost to safeguard this information from the girl.

"No," Harune said quietly, a look of defeat in her green eyes.

"It's okay, we can hardly expect you to remember what Orochimaru didn't want you to," Hiruzen said calmly, but Harune could tell he was frustrated.

"We have no way of knowing if he's using you as a spy to infiltrate Konoha," the Hokage said, looking out the window down into the village.

"Couldn't Inoichi-sensei just check? If he can read into my subconscious, he should be able to find out," Harune proposed. She felt very vulnerable, not to mention very angry, but she did her best to remain patient and impassive.

"There's nothing suggesting that he is," Inoichi began, and immediately Harune's eyes widened hopefully, "but there's nothing suggesting that he isn't." At this, her expression was once again crestfallen and dispirited. "However, we do know that he can manipulate you with ease; that curse mark that he branded you with serves as some sort of puppet jutsu."

"If he is in fact using you as an inside man, he could trigger the curse mark and take you back," Hiruzen continued, not removing his gaze from his village.

"It's been nearly 4 months," Harune said, crossing her arms impatiently. "Even if he wanted me back, he couldn't take me that easily; he has to be near me to release the seal, and there's no way he'd casually walk up to Konoha and kidnap me."

"That's why we cannot allow you to go out on missions, Harune," Hiruzen said, as though he was explaining something to a child. Harune crossed her arms, a look of extreme distaste playing across her scarred face.

"That's—" Harune began, but a stern look from her sensei, who knew how easily the 17 year old could forget her manners, forced her to re-evaluate her sentence.

"—with all due respect, Hokage-sama," she said, looking sideways at Inoichi, who nodded in approval, "that's the biggest load of bullshit I've ever heard!" she finished. Inoichi's eyes widened as he turned beet-red with second-hand embarrassment, and the Sandaime turned slowly to face Harune.

"I beg your pardon?" he said calmly, not shying away from his subordinate's glare.

"That's bullshit," Harune repeated defiantly. "If he wanted intel on Konoha, Orochimaru could easily abduct any of our shinobi. He's probably more likely to; he wouldn't voluntarily engage me in combat, and you know that just as well as I do, Sandaime-sama."

There was a long pause as Harune's words resonated with Hiruzen and Inoichi. She had a point; Hiruzen knew his former pupil very well, and he would never pick a battle with the overpowered kunoichi he had helped to create. However, he didn't know enough about her affiliation with the Akatsuki to reassure himself that they weren't a threat to Konoha.

"Why didn't you just tell me all of this from the start?" Harune finally said, breaking the silence. She had a glazed look over her eyes, and it took some time for the Sandaime to realize that she was staring off into the view of the village."For four months, I waited for Inoichi-sensei to come back and prove me innocent. And I find out this morning that you've been neglecting to tell me that he's been back for two weeks already. Why didn't you just say, 'Oh, hey, Harune, Orochimaru could be using you as a spy on Konoha, so let's work together to figure something out', instead of condemning me to civilian life?!"

"You've been severely emotionally and physically compromised, Harune," Inoichi said, and Harune's gaze finally came back into focus.

"I've been training intensely for months, sensei, I'm hardly physically compromised," she grumbled, but was suddenly very conscious of the wound Genma had given her earlier that day. "And no ninja is completely emotionally well-adjusted anyway."

_You send Kakashi-kun out on Black Ops missions, and he's hardly what you'd call emotionally stable,_ she thought to herself, immediately feeling very guilty, as though she had openly insulted her best friend.

"I did it to protect you, Harune. It was in your best interest," Hiruzen explained. At this, the suspended jonin scoffed.

"I was Orochimaru's guinea pig of three years; I hardly need _your_ protection. To be quite honest with you, if you want to do something in _my_ best interest, I suggest you reinstate me as an active kunoichi. Let me go out on missions and fight." Harune hissed, a familiar rage building up within her.

"You are dismissed, Harune." Hiruzen said firmly. The Kamineko's eyes widened, and she opened her mouth to argue, but quickly decided against it. She was on the verge of seriously losing her temper, and even she recognized that _that_ would do much more damage than was necessary.

"Hai," she muttered, and left.

The rage only grew stronger as she stood idly in the hall, the Hokage's office door closed behind her.

_Akatsuki, Akatsuki…Kuso! Why can't I fucking remember anything about them?!_ She thought, clenching her fists. The sudden sound of footsteps approaching startled her from her thoughts, and quickly she darted out of sight. When she heard the stranger enter the Hokage's office, she ran off, hoping not to be noticed by anyone on her way out.

* * *

Inoichi, who had remained silent for quite some time, let out a loud sigh.

"You should probably let her go back out on missions, Hokage-sama," he suggested. At this, the older man inhaled his pipe deeply, and nodded solemnly.

A sudden knock on the door caught both men's attention, and Hatake Kakashi stepped in.

"A report, Sandaime-sama," the masked jonin said, bowing respectfully. Inoichi wished his former pupil could mind her manners as much as he comrade did; while Harune was never intentionally outright rude, her short temper often caused her to forget to act as courteously as she should.

"The mission failed. Our witness was accidentally killed," Kakashi continued in his usual monotone. Hiruzen knew that "accidentally" meant that Kakashi had lost his temper and killed their last hope of retracking Orochimaru. The Hokage recognized the risks of assigning the Hatake to missions involving Harune's return to Konoha and Orochimaru's every continuous disappearances, but Kakashi had recently been allowing his hatred for the defected Sannin get the better of him, and it was now greatly affected his missions' success rates.

"I see. Well, you're dismissed for now, Kakashi; I don't have any other tasks for you for the time being. Go home and rest." Hiruzen ordered. With a 'hai', Kakashi nodded, and stepped out.

Hiruzen let out another deep sigh; Hatake Kakashi and Kamineko Harune seemed to be downspiraling rapidly, and being two of Konoha's strongest shinobi, this worried him more than a great deal.

"Harune had asked me to keep an eye on the Hatake the night before we sent her off. She said he had a powerful darkness in his heart, and I could tell she was worried it would overcome him," Inoichi said, as though he could read Hiruzen's thoughts.

"Are you saying I should perhaps send them out on missions together?" the Sandaime asked. Inoichi quickly shook his head.

"I'm saying that I think it would be extremely beneficial to the both of them if we gave them time to be together. Ever since she's returned, you've been sending Hatake Kakashi out on missions, and neither of them have really seen much of each other in the past few months, let alone in the last few years. Wasn't her Uchiha cousin the one who gave him his Sharingan?" Inoichi said.

"Yes, it was. Kamineko Harune and Hatake Kakashi have known each other for quite some time; maybe you have a point, Inoichi," Hiruzen said thoughtfully, letting his pipe die out.

"Well, I must be off, Hokage-sama, Ino and Himei are waiting for me," Inoichi said. Hiruzen nodded his dismissal of the head of the Intelligence Division, who shunshined off.

_I'm getting too old for this job,_ he thought.


	13. Team Kushina

The sky was a stunning mix of blue, pink, and orange as the sun set on Konoha, and Harune watched as day turned to dusk, standing before her parents' graves.

"I wish I could be doing something useful," Harune murmured to the headstones engraved Kamineko Fuyuro and Uchiha Benaki. "Something that could make you proud. But instead I'm here, stuck in the village and having petty arguments with the Sandaime."

Harune couldn't help but laugh bitterly at herself.

"It's ridiculous, isn't it Papa, how far someone can stray from their path?" she said. "Kuso, I wish I could remember what happened to me. Actually, I really wish I had never gone on that fucking mission. _I'm so god damn lost_."

The headstones sat in silence, much to Harune's anger, despite her common sense.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU STARING AT? _HELP ME,_ GOD FUCKING DAMMIT!" she shouted at the slabs of rock. "KUSO!" she impulsively slammed her fist into the ground, breathing heavily.

"I wish you were here, by my side, telling me everything will work itself out, Mama," her voice quivered, its raspiness made even more evident as she choked back the sobs threatening to surface. "Papa, I wish you were here telling me that every obstacle is merely a test of my strength, that I'm a Kamineko and that we can overcome everything because we're made of fucking steel."

She paused, fighting against the lump in the back of her throat.

"Papa, I'm not made of steel. Ever since that year, it's like I've only been getting weaker and weaker," Harune vented, and despite her efforts, tears began to flow freely down her cheeks, and she collapsed on her knees, breaking out into uncontrollable sobs. She stayed there, letting her pent-up pain and anger overwhelm her as she knelt before her parents' graves.

"I know, I know, I'm sorry, Papa," the 17 year old finally said, roughly wiping her tear-stained face after her fit was through. "Rise and conquer. That was your motto," she said, a fond smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "It's a good motto."

The Kamineko kissed her hands and placed one on each of the tombstones.

"I'm going to go visit the others now. I love you both, see you soon."

Harune wandered over to her old teammates, Isamu Takeo and Orokone Katsu.

"Yo," she said, sitting cross-legged in front of their headstones. "I'm sorry it's been so long," she apologized.

_"__It's okay, we know you've been busy doing nothing in the village all day every day for the past four months," _Takeo's sarcastic voice said in Harune's head, who rolled her eyes in response.

_"__Takeo! Of course Harune is busy, she actually has a life,"_ Katsu's voice defended her, incredibly ironically.

Harune sighed. If only her two sarcastic soul mates were sitting with her rather than six feet below her.

* * *

"Who would even want to restart the War? I don't understand," 16 year old Orokone Katsu thought aloud. Takeo turned to face the peacemaker of their ANBU team.

"The shinobi world is full of sick fucks," he replied, pushing his mask off to the side so he could see better.

"Think about it though," Harune said. "Shinobi are bred to fight. I mean, without war, what would shinobi do? There wouldn't be any use for them."

Both Takeo and Katsu looked at the 13 year old.

"My point has been proven," Takeo muttered sideways to Katsu, who frowned.

"Baka!" Harune shouted angrily, knocking Takeo roughly on the back of his blond head. "I'm not saying restarting the War is a good idea, nor is it justifiable; I'm just saying that that's the way some ninja think," she argued defensively.

The jonin trio continued walking, Takeo muttering something about respecting the captain better and rubbing the back of his head.

"Do we even know where to look for these documents?" Harune finally said after a long bout of silence.

"They belong to a secret organization of Suna-nin," Katsu reminded her. He sometimes wondered how a girl as absent-minded and as forgetful as she could have scaled the ranks and been promoted to jonin at such a young age.

The former team Kushina had been sent out by the Hokage on a mission to retrieve top-secret plans to dissolve the already uncomfortably fragile alliances between the Sand and the Leaf, thus rekindling the flame that had ignited the Third Great Shinobi World War. Recovering these documents meant that whoever wanted to re-instigate the chaos was rendered incapable of doing so. It was their first official ANBU mission, and the first time any team had been sent directly into another one of the Five Shinobi Villages since the end of the war.

It seemed easy enough of a task; get in, get the documents, get out. The three young and cocky jonin never could have guessed how dangerous and ultimately life-threatening this mission actually was.

"And so how do we discern this secret organization from everyone else?" Harune asked. It was Takeo's turn to whack the girl five years his junior upside the head.

"Do you _ever_ listen during the briefings?!" he scolded, and Harune bared her mini fangs at him.

"Their arms. They have the Sunagakure symbol tattooed on their left forearms," Katsu said patiently, but with a hint of irritation in his voice, not towards Harune, but towards Takeo. The thoughtful and conscientious light-release user had been careful to treat Harune with extra care and attention since her parents had passed during the attack of the Kyuubi. Takeo, however, couldn't seem to care less, and was oftentimes very insensitive towards the orphaned Kamineko. Harune didn't show it, but Katsu knew his friend was struggling a great deal with the losses of the past year.

With a thoughtful 'hnn', Harune absent-mindedly scratched her own left forearm, where she had adopted her father's namesake kanji.

The Kamineko clan was well-known not only for their kenjutsu, but for their incredible chakra capacity as well. Unfortunately, the Kamineko oftentimes possessed too much chakra to be allowed to flow freely; it had the potential to destroy their bodies from the inside out. As a result, the clan developed a jutsu that gave them points towards which they could concentrate their excess chakra, and release it only when absolutely necessary. The many tattoos the Kamineko had the tendency to brand themselves with served as visual markers to facilitate this chakra concentration. It was also customary for clan children to inherit their parents' chakra reserves upon their passing; it permitted for their reincarnation, something the feline summoning clan firmly believed in.

Being the last member of her clan, Harune felt it her duty to carry on the traditions her father had taught her, and she inherited his chakra reserve. It had automatically manifested into the kanji for "winter" on her left forearm, the same place her father Fuyuro had had it.

"Soudesu ka," she finally said. "So we'll just avoid those guys, get the papers, and we'll be on our merry way." Her brows furrowed at this thought. "Where are they keeping the papers?"

"Well if they knew that, don't you think they would have sent genin?" Takeo muttered.

"If we weren't on a mission, I'd beat the shit out of you, Takeo-kun," the ill-tempered kunoichi hissed. Takeo withdrew his tanto and smirked at the girl beside him, threatening to halt and sparr right then and there.

"Guys! Guys, c'mon, this is a serious mission, S-rank at that! Now is not the time to be rivals; you've got to work as comrades," Katsu said nervously. They were nearing Suna territory and were easy targets should anything occur. When neither one of his friends obliged, he maneuvered his way between them and forced Takeo to re-sheath his tanto.

"You're a captain; act like it," Katsu growled. The three-man cell halted as the 18 and 16 year olds stared each other down.

"Hey, hey, Katsu-kun," Harune said quietly, taking him by the forearm and gently tugging him towards her and away from Takeo. It was rare for Katsu to lose his temper, but when he did, it was frightening.

While the three ninja were very close friends who would put their lives on the line for one another in battle, they all had very different and very clashing personalities and frames of mind, leading to frequent disputes and most of all, challenges of strength. The Red-Hot Habanero's student trio rarely ever properly trained; rather, the only way the three of them had gotten so powerful was due to their constant sparring. They had a habit of developing jutsus and stances on the spot just to throw their teammates off guard, and it was this that lead to their growth into full-fledged jonin.

It didn't hurt either that each of the three teammates/friends/rivals had their own unique traits. Katsu hailed from a clan who's kekkai genkai was known as hiton, or light release: a powerful release of mixed fire and lightning chakra that often resulted in massive explosions. Takeo came from a predominantly suiton-using clan who had developed dark hiden techniques wherein they could control their enemies by manipulating the water in their blood. Finally, Harune, Sharingan-wielder and nineko summoner, not only had a wide range of attacks both nin and genjutsu based, but had, in a few short years, become one of the most fearsome kenjutsu specialists Konoha had ever seen. Even their late sensei, an Uzumaki, felt limited in what she could teach her subordinates. As genin, the trio's potential was incredible, and it was this that had allowed all three ninja to so quickly scale the ranks to jonin.

"Let's just do this mission and go home," the youngest member of their squad said, still holding onto Katsu.

"Che," Takeo smirked, now looking at Harune. "I'll show you why the Sandaime made _me_ captain when we get home."

"The only reason you're captain is because you're the oldest, you albino jackass!" Harune retorted. Takeo's pale blue eyes widened as he ran his hand through his white-blond hair, taken aback by Harune's insult. Harune's eyes widened on her own part, and she quickly let go of Katsu to approach Takeo.

"Go-gomen, Take-kun," she began apologizing, but was interrupted when her senior comrade pulled her into a tight hug.

"You're so funny, Haru-chan!" he laughed, and ruffled her black hair before letting her go. The Kamineko blinked at him for a moment, but quickly joined in Takeo's laughter. Only Katsu watched his teammates in utter disbelief.

"You two are so fucked up," he muttered dismally, unable to understand the capricious natures of his two best friends.

"Let's just get this mission done, yeah?" Takeo smiled.

"Hai!" Harune said enthusiastically.

"Un," Katsu said, but couldn't help but smile at the kunoichi's ardor.

There was no sparring session when they got back.

It had taken four days for the team to locate and infiltrate Suna's secret war-craving division; unfortunately, despite much precaution and care, the enemy had caught hold of them and forced them into a battle to the death for possession of the scrolls they had almost succeeded in stealing.

The powerful Suna-nin not only out-numbered the young jonin trio, but also had the advantage of the familiar territory. Takeo struggled to keep his suiton jutsus in such desolate and dry land and was quickly drained of all his chakra, leaving Harune and Katsu, the latter having had both of his legs crushed in a trap-style jutsu in the sand. In order to protect her comrades, Harune was forced to retreat into an ultimate defense, shielding the trio with a massive earthen dome.

"Kuso!" Harune hissed, trying her best to re-align Katsu's bones and keep them steady as he writhed in agony beneath her quick hands. The Kamineko's brain was working double-time to re-assess the situation and come up with a plan to avoid getting the three of them killed. She had infused her defensive dome with her chakra, and could sense the whereabouts of each of their opponents based on their attacks on her shield.

_The only reason I'm not in their condition is because I can see ahead with my Sharingan_, she thought as she moved over to check on Takeo, who was completely knocked out. His breathing was ragged and irregular, but Harune, being unschooled in the ways of the medic-nin, could not do anything about it.

_Neither of them can fight_, she thought desperately. She looked down at her left forearm, where her father's chakra lay. The 13 year old had never released any of her seals in her life; she had never come to a situation where she had to, but now it seemed to be more than necessary.

"Katsu," Harune said, kneeling by his side. "Can you lend me your power, please? You can't fight but I can't do this alone; your hiton is much more effective against them than my doton or raiton."

"U-un," Katsu said, wincing at the searing pain in his legs.

The chakra absorption jutsu was one that Harune had only ever performed once, when her father had died, and she had never tried it on a live human being. The Kamineko realized that this procedure would require a great deal more chakra control so as not to drain Katsu completely and kill him.

Harune placed one hand on the right side of Katsu's face and the other on his abdomen, where the heart of the chakra system lay. All at once, Katsu's pain completely subsided, and he felt as though he was floating. Harune closed her eyes and focused on concentrating the influx of unfamiliar chakra to her inner right arm. It manifested itself into the kanji for 'light' but appeared more faded than her other two reserves because she had only absorbed a portion of her comrade's chakra.

"Stay here," Harune said quietly when she severed the tie between her and Katsu.

"I couldn't move even if I wanted to," he replied, a pained smile playing across his face. With a nod, Harune took a quick glance at her unconscious captain before leaving the confines of her shelter.

The transition between the darkness of the dome and the bright sunlight outside would have been enough to momentarily blind anyone, but Harune's Sharingan and enhanced Kamineko sight allowed her to come out from the defense to offense with full force.

"KUSO!" she cried out, katana withdrawn. There were 10 Suna-nin in all; there had only been four when Harune and her team retreated into her defense.

"Kuchiyose no justu!" Harune summoned Kuroda, who viciously guarded her partner from attacks from her blind spots. As she had expected, Harune's kenjutsu skills were not enough to defeat her numerous opponents.

_Here goes nothing_, the 13 year old thought, re-sheathing her bloody katana and swiftly locking her hands into tiger formation.

"Haru: Release!" she cried out, and her namesake kanji on her left thigh diffused, sending visible ribbons of dark violet chakra wrapping across her body.

"Fuyu: Release!" her father's chakra diffused, this time causing pale blue ribbons of chakra to spread. Her activated Sharingan eyes began to glow the same violet shade as her chakra.

"Kuroda, _Pansaken, _now!" the chakra-enhanced Kamineko commanded, and her black panther summon transformed into a large, black sword that looked as though it weighed just as much as its wielder.

Harune hadn't noticed until now that their opponents had once again increased in number; now they surrounded her entirely. Some gawked at the kunoichi, fearful of her new chakra-empowered appearance, but not one made a move to retreat.

"You want a war," Harune hissed, readying her sword, "I'll give you a fucking war!"

With a loud battle cry, Harune lept into the air.

"Hikari," she said, and Katsu's chakra began pulsing on her arm, ready to be unleashed.

_Let's do this, Kuroda, Katsu, Takeo,_ Harune thought as she came down, striking the ground with the black blade that was her summon.

"Release," she said, and, as if out of nowhere, a tremendous explosion originated from the rocky terrain she had struck, wiping out every last one of her opponents.

As quickly as it had happened, the chakra ribbons receded back to reform the tattooed kanji on Harune's body, and, feeling the residual surges of chakra pulse through her body, the 13 year old collapsed, her shield protecting Katsu and Takeo disintegrating to nothing.

The next thing Harune knew, she was lying in a hospital bed back in Konoha, where she found Kakashi sitting in a chair beside her, asleep with his head in her lap. Her waking up awoke him as well, and Harune would have been overjoyed to see him (though she would have pretended otherwise), but the sad look in his dark eyes told her that her teammates had not made it.

"They were saying that you wouldn't make it either… That your chakra flow was too erratic and that it was just a matter of time before your body failed," Kakashi murmured, and for the first time, Harune noticed that his eyes were red and puffy.

"How long have I been out?" Harune asked, afraid of the answer.

"Four days. Takeo died before we even made it back to Konoha, and Katsu yesterday afternoon," Kakashi said quietly.

Hearing the words actually being said struck something within Harune; it was the same dark, tormenting, and all-too-familiar pain she had when she had learned of her Obito, Rin, Kushina, and her parents' deaths.

In one year, one short, grievous, and excruciatingly painful year, at 13 years old, Kamineko Harune had lost her cousin, her best friends, her sensei, and her parents.

* * *

Tears were streaming down Harune's face again as she sat before her teammates' graves, reliving their demise.

"Kuso," she whispered. It was so ironic; they had both died of severe chakra exhaustion, and Harune had almost died from a surplus of it.

A feeling of burning rage swelled within her as she looked down at the kanji that sealed Katsu's chakra, now fully present and darkened. Had she just used her own chakra, he could have survived. All he had was two broken legs: easily treatable. But she had to be a fucking idiot and take his chakra to help her fight, and even though she was careful, she had taken too much, and he died.

"I'm sorry, I'm so so so fucking sorry, Katsu. I killed you. I fucking killed you. You could have survived, but I was weak and because of that, you suffered," Harune choked out.

_Haru-chan, you did what you needed to do. You got us out. You completed the mission. There was no way you could have taken on those guys on your own. I'm proud of you and so is Takeo,_ Katsu's voice reassured her in her head.

_You did good, kiddo, _Takeo agreed.

"I miss you guys so much," Harune whispered, once again kissing her hands and placing one on each of the tombstones. "See you soon."

* * *

"What brings you here, Harune?" Genma's sly voice said from behind the girl sitting at the bar. She looked up to face him.

"It takes it away," she said sullenly, red faced and holding up her shot class, which was filled with a clear liquid that Genma assumed was vodka. His expression turned from amused to sympathetic as he recognized the familiar need to drink the pain away, and took a seat beside her.

"Yeah. Yeah, it does," he agreed, knowing it was best not to try and talk about what exactly was bothering her. "How are the kidlets?" he changed the subject, and Harune's eyes lit up at the mention of her favourite little ones at the Academy.

* * *

Kakashi was wandering aimlessly around the village, unsure of what to do now that he was given some time off by the Sandaime. Before long, the silver-haired Hatake found himself at the shinobi graveyard, paying a visit to his deceased comrades. On his way out, he passed by the graves of Isamu Takeo and Orokone Katsu. He hadn't been very close to them at all, but he remembered how distraught Harune had been following their deaths. He remembered when his ANBU team had found hers, unconscious and barely alive. He remembered the near-paralyzing fear that had overwhelmed him as he picked up Harune's limp body. He never would have admitted it to anybody, but, in that moment, Kakashi couldn't have cared less if Takeo or Katsu were dead; the only thing that mattered was the girl in his arms.

When the doctors told him that Harune was most likely not going to make it, Kakashi refused to leave her bedside, waiting for his stubborn best friend to defy the odds and wake up.

And, when she did wake up, he had forgotten what pain and fear was; all he could feel was an overwhelming sense of joy. He wanted to hug her and never let her go, never let her leave his side, and always protect her.

"Che," he tsked angrily, reliving Harune's kidnapping in his head.

_Always protect her, my ass, _he thought, a deeply-engrained feeling of hate and rage growing within him. _You've never been able to protect her. All you've ever done is fuck up and let her get hurt._

Thinking of Harune reminded Kakashi that it had been quite some time since he had seen his village-bound best friend, and made a mental note to pay her a visit the next morning.


	14. Black Eye

Sunlight streamed in to Harune's bedroom through her curtains, signaling a new day. The 17 year old Kamineko stretched gracefully, finding that the spot beside her where Genma had slept was now empty. She chuckled to herself; he was always in a rush to get to work the next morning, but she had the luxury of enjoying a peaceful, relaxed morning routine before showing up at the Intelligence Division, and, since it was a Saturday, she didn't have to leave extra early to drop little Ino off at the Academy.

Harune was soaking in the warm rays of sunlight on her bed when she heard someone enter her tiny apartment.

"Did you forget something, Genma?" she called out. Much to her surprise (and for some reason, shame and embarrassment), it was not the senbon-wielder who poked his head in to her bedroom, but Kakashi. He didn't need any explanation; Harune's assumption and the scent of the tokubetsu jonin all over her apartment was enough.

A sudden wave of anger came over the 19 year old, and he quickly darted outside to where he had crossed paths with Genma.

Harune, on her own part, threw on a pair of shorts and a hoodie before quickly chasing after him.

"You fucking son of a BITCH!" Kakashi growled as he grabbed Genma from behind and took a swing at him.

"Kakashi! St—" Harune jumped in just in time to block Genma from Kakashi's strike, but not herself. Instead, she went flying the moment Kakashi's fist came into contact with her face.

"Kuso," she muttered, wiping blood from the resulting gash just under her left eye. Kakashi instinctively made a move to go help her, but remembered why he came out here in the first place.

"Teme," Kakashi snarled, turning his attention back to Genma, and swinging again.

This time it was Gai who stopped Kakashi, and Asuma quickly came around to restrain Genma, who had gotten fired up and ready to fight.

Harune could already feel her left eye start to swell, but she stood up and spat out the blood in her mouth.

"What the fuck is your problem, Hatake?!" Genma shouted, fighting against Asuma's firm hold.

"You piece of shit, I told you to keep an eye on her, not go off and—" Kakashi yelled back, but was interrupted by Gai, who cut in.

"Do you guys want to calm down? Haru-chan is over there bleeding no thanks to you two, and you're _still _trying to kill each other," he reprimanded, trying to diffuse the tension. Genma finally broke free from Asuma's grasp.

"Whatever. I've got work to get to," he said through gritted teeth, and walked off.

"Let go of me," Kakashi muttered, and knocked Gai away before storming off in the other direction.

"Daijobu, Haru-chan?" Gai asked, immediately fussing over her.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said, starting to feel self-conscious about the black eye that was forming.

"So he found out, huh?" Asuma said, a shadow of a smirk playing across his stubbled face. Harune glared up at him.

"Found what out," she played dumb.

"Erm, Harune-chan, we kind of all know about you and Genma," Gai said hesitantly. At this, Harune couldn't keep herself from bursting out into uncontrollable, derisive laughter.

"Obviously," she muttered when her fit was through. "Yeah, I guess he did."

Asuma and Gai exchanged sideways glances. For a kunoichi specially trained as a lethal spy, Harune could be painfully oblivious. To them, it was clear as day as to why Kakashi had acted so rashly when he discovered Harune and Genma's affair but their youngest comrade seemed totally unaware of it.

"Maybe you should go make sure he's alright," Gai suggested. Harune frowned, doubting that Kakashi would be open to seeing her at the moment, but obliged.

"Alright, thanks guys, by the way," she replied, and shunshined off.

* * *

"Genma," Harune called out to the bodyguard, who was strolling down the hall at the Academy.

"Heh, what brings you here, Harune?" he said, chewing on his senbon. He was still in a bitter mood from the events of the morning. Harune could hardly blame him, so was she.

"I know we've said this before, but it's over, Genma-kun," Harune said assertively, crossing her arms. Genma laughed.

"Oh, look at you, being a big girl. I thought I was gonna have to come over to your place tonight and end it myself," he smirked.

"Shutup. You're only five years older than me, get over yourself and stop talking to me like I'm a little kid," Harune rolled her eyes.

"I had already started at the Academy when you were just a helpless baby in diapers," Genma chuckled.

"And yet I still graduated in the same year as you," Harune bit back, but at this point she couldn't help but smile, especially when Genma paused, clearly at a loss for words.

"Well, either way last night was definitely the last time, yeah?" he finally said, reverting back to the original topic. Harune nodded. "Good. Kakashi would have killed me otherwise," he continued, making a swift line across his throat with his finger.

"I don't get why it bothers him so much, kuso," Harune muttered, pulling up her hood over her head as she though. Genma scoffed.

"Oh, come _on_, Harune-chan, it's obvious," he said. When the 17 year old just looked up at him blankly, he sighed.

"Ugh, seriously, had Kakashi been there with us at the bar that first night, who would you have gone home with?" he asked as though he already knew the answer.

Harune furrowed her brow. The Kamineko had never really thought about her silver-haired best friend in _that_ way. Obviously, she had had a massive crush on him when they were kids, but even as they had gotten older, he always seemed to keep her at arm's length, and so her feelings for him had eventually subsided.

"Even if I wanted that, he wouldn't," she finally said, crossing her arms decisively. Genma simply chuckled, and walked away.

"See you around, Haru-chan," he waved.

"Kuso…" she hissed.

* * *

Kakashi stared out into the distance from his spot atop the Ichidaime's head on Hokage Mountain.

_I told that bastard to just keep an eye on Harune, and he goes off and starts fucking her,_ he thought angrily.

The very idea of Genma using Harune for sex just made the Hatake's blood boil. She was so much better than that; she deserved so much better. Did she even understand that to Genma, she was just another number? Did she even realize that to _him_, she was everything?

Of course not.

She had no fucking clue.

And Kakashi had no intention of changing that, though his fit that morning may have been more telling than he would have liked.

He had managed to suppress his feelings for her for years, but recently, he had been finding it more and more difficult to do so, especially now that she had finally returned to Konoha.

When Kakashi had lost Harune to Orochimaru those three years ago, it had been more than enough to destroy him from the inside out. He had hoped to keep his mind away from the girl he had failed to protect, but the Sandaime kept assigning him on missions involving either her or the convicted Sannin.

Not only was the silver haired jonin devastated over the loss of the one girl he truly loved, but he was full of regret for never having had admitted to her that to him, she was much more than just a friend.

_Evidently, she didn't feel the same way, if she was letting Genma screw her_, he thought bitterly.

Maybe it was better of that he had never told her…

"Yo," Harune's voice said quietly from behind, interrupting Kakashi's thoughts. Had he not been naturally gifted in the art of self-composure and indifference, he would have jumped.

"Hey," he replied, his back still turned to her. Harune frowned, not that he could see. Regardless, she sat herself beside him. They stayed like that, sitting in silence, for quite some time, and it was not a comfortable one. Harune didn't know what to do or say. She hadn't done anything _wrong_, and yet she couldn't shake off the feeling that she owed Kakashi an apology.

Kakashi, on the other hand, knew exactly what he wanted to say to Harune; he just didn't know _how_. He wanted to give her hell for doing something as stupid as sleep with Genma. He wanted to tell her that she should be with _him_, not that dirty, promiscuous pervert.

"How's your eye?" is what he settled for, breaking the silence. Harune had sat on his right side, so he had full view of the damage he had done. He felt horrible for it.

"Better than it looks," she lied. In truth, it had only gotten increasingly painful since the morning; Kakashi, while predominantly a ninjutsu user, could pack a surprisingly powerful punch. However, Harune had sustained worse; Gai had never been easy on her during their taijutsu training.

"I'm sorry for this morning. I overreacted," Kakashi said, turning to look directly at Harune.

"You really did," she replied, keeping her gaze locked on the horizon. Her dismissal of his apology angered Kakashi, and suddenly he didn't feel so sorry anymore. Although, it shouldn't have surprised him, really; Harune always spoke directly and said what she thought, and if she thought he overreacted, she wasn't afraid to say it.

"But I'm hardly one to complain, I overreact to everything," Harune laughed lightly, finally turning to look at Kakashi.

_She is so fucking bipolar_, the Hatake thought, mildly annoyed by Harune's constant mood swings, but simultaneously relieved that she had forgiven him.

"Why Genma?" Kakashi blurted out, instantly regretting it when Harune's forgiving smile vanished and she snapped her gaze back to the view of the village. The silver haired jonin watched her intently. She looked like she was thinking hard about something: like she had something she wanted to say. But when she turned back to him, green eyes meeting grey, she just smiled.

"Would you prefer that it was Gai?" Harune said sarcastically, a challenging look in her eye. Kakashi scowled.

"Do you have to turn everything into a joke?" he snapped.

"Do you have to take everything so seriously?" Harune mimicked. For her, it was much easier to make fun of her affair with Genma than to tell Kakashi that she was just lonely. The 22 year old bodyguard, while completely unfit for boyfriend material, gave Harune attention, the kind of attention that she so deeply craved after three years of exploitation. Whether it be platonically or sexually, Genma was there. Kakashi wasn't.

"You are such a child!" Kakashi stood up, towering over Harune. Rolling her eyes, the suspended kunoichi just returned her gaze to the horizon.

"You're overreacting again," she said in a dead monotone, and slowly stood up herself, looking up and glaring at Kakashi dead in the eye. "What is your problem?" she asked. Kakashi couldn't tell if she was angry or concerned. He, however, was on the verge of losing his temper.

The fact of the matter was, the Hatake wasn't angry with Harune herself, but with his inability to speak his mind and express his feelings for her, and it was excruciatingly painful. She was so close to him, both literally and figuratively, and yet, at the same time, so far.

"Forget it," he growled, and began to walk away, but Harune held him back by his forearm.

His nose caught hold of the sweet fragrance emanating from her body and he cursed himself for allowing it to draw him in.

"No. No, you do not get to do that, 'Kashi-kun," she said. Her tone said she was angry, but her eyes looked sad. Anyone who didn't know her very well wouldn't have noticed; Harune was actually quite keen on concealing her true emotions and often hid behind a commanding tone and assertive expression, but Kakashi knew his best friend all too well, and he could tell that her eyes always betrayed her.

"It's not important," he replied, but made no move to turn away again.

"You're so full of shit," Harune frowned.

_Then again, what am I expecting? Him to profess some sort of undying love for me? Kuso, don't be a fucking idiot. Genma doesn't know fuck all, _she thought, grimacing internally. She considered using the Mind-Body Transmission technique Yamanaka Inoichi had taught her, but quickly decided against it.

_That's exclusively for the battlefield_, she scolded herself.

"You…you slept with Genma," Kakashi interrupted her thoughts, unable to look Harune in the eye as he said it.

"And obviously, that bothers you a lot, so what's your problem?" Harune repeated. When he didn't answer, she continued.

"Is it that I slept with someone, or is it that I slept with _Genma_?" she clarified.

"Both. What were you thinking?" Kakashi asked.

"What, you never slept with anyone?" Harune defended, crossing her arms. At this, Kakashi blushed, not that she could see behind his mask.

Naturally, Kakashi had been with a couple of girls, but to him, it was different.

"It's not like I was fucking Anko or Kurenai," he shot back. "They were just civilians."

"They?" Harune raised an eyebrow. "How is screwing civilians any different from bumping dirties with Anko or Kurenai?" Actually saying that aloud made Harune cringe internally, and she realized that she did not at all like the idea of Kakashi with other women, whether she knew them or not.

"It doesn't matter," Kakashi muttered. He didn't feel like explaining himself to Harune, and he especially didn't like that she now knew that he had slept with other girls.

Harune sighed.

"Whatever you say," she resigned. She wasn't going to push him any further. "I guess I should be going then," she said.

"Harune," Kakashi stopped her, taking her hand to keep her from walking away. "You're just a number to him. You can do so much better than that," he said sincerely, praying that she might understand that _he _was the so much better that she deserved.

_What the fuck are you thinking, Hatake? Harune deserves so much better than you, too. You let her cousin get killed, you actually killed Rin, and you failed to protect her; what makes you think she'd ever even consider a worthless scumbag like you,_ he thought scornfully.

"I know," Harune said plainly. "About the number thing, anyway. Obviously. Genma is not relationship material, and he knows it, and he likes it that way. But he's a good friend, and he's around when others are not. I mean, you're always away on missions," she said.

"You let Genma screw you because I'm out on missions?" Kakashi asked, confused and incredulous.

"Ugh, no. Nevermind," Harune replied, agitated. It was her turn to be closed and reluctant to talk. "Either way, it's over. Genma and I, I mean."

Kakashi felt incredibly relieved, and couldn't stop the tiniest of smiles from tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"Anyway, I really should get going," Harune said. Kakashi let go of her hand, and shoved his own into his pockets.

"Jaa ne," he said, nodding, and she jumped down into the village.


	15. Drunk

The abandoned house looked even more eerie and menacing in the glow of the sunset, and Harune couldn't bring herself to step inside. There were too many memories.

"Kuso," Harune hissed to herself, frustrated with her own weakness. "It's been 5 years, get a grip. It's just a house," she thought angrily as she walked away from the home she had grown up in.

Of course, the suspended jonin had found herself in the bar, again, for the second night in a row.

"Harune, you're much too young to be drinking this much and this often," Tarou, the bartender, chided the 17 year old, but poured her another shot of tequila. "Then again, you're much too young to be a kunoichi. If you ask me, I think it's all kinds of fucked up that you kids are trained practically from birth to fight."

"If we're not trained from the beginning, we can't become strong enough to fight adequately," Harune replied, downing the shot.

"But then when the Hokage sends you all out to fight, you get killed off like it's nobody's business. Like that kid there… what's his name… oh, right, the Uchiha kid at Kannabi Bridge. Shit like that shouldn't happen. It ain't right," Tarou ranted, now cleaning glasses. Harune reached over the bar and helped herself to the tequila, not wanting to think about her deceased cousin. Tarou gave her a scolding look, but made no move to stop her.

"How do you know about the battle at Kannabi Bridge?" Harune asked, memories of Obito resurfacing as she swirled her finger in a drop of tequila she had spilled trying to pour herself another shot.

"Look around you, Harune. This bar is jam-packed with shinobi. I hear about everything that goes on with you guys," Tarou said knowingly. Harune eyed him suspiciously, wondering how much he knew about her. Deciding she didn't want to know, the already intoxicated ex-jonin threw back another shot.

"I should give Genma a beating for doing this to you," Tarou said, watching his underage customer, taking the bottle of alcohol away from her when she attempted to pour herself some more.

"He didn't do anything to me," Harune grumbled indignantly. Tarou sighed. He had served Harune enough to know that she could drink and drink and drink and never realize how drunk she actually was. One problem with her, he noticed, was that the effects of the alcohol did not come gradually, rather, they hit the poor girl all at once, and when they did, it was brutal. In the time he had known her, Tarou had never witnessed anything extreme; she had never puked or passed out (in his bar, anyway), much to his surprise, but it was in her expressions and the way that she spoke that made the bartender feel sorry for her. It's as though all the anguish and grief tormenting the otherwise good-natured kunoichi poked its demonic head out whenever she had had a little more than too much to drink, and he also found that more often than not, Harune forgot about what she would confide in him once she sobered up.

While Tarou liked Genma quite a bit, he couldn't help but be angry with him for corrupting the young girl and essentially turning her into an alcoholic.

"Genma's a really good friend, Tarou-san," Harune said, looking at the bartender almost pleadingly, as though she was begging him to understand. Too many people had been jumping at the chance to criticize the 22 year old recently, and Harune had had enough.

"He's been around for me when I needed it," she explained. "So has Gai; Gai actually might be a more caring friend, and Kurenai too, but they're always out on missions." She paused, and her eyes adopted an even more dismal look. "Kakashi-kun is _always_ out on missions," she said with a frown. Tarou watched Harune intently, waiting for her to find her words.

"Kakashi tried to beat up Genma today," she continued, absent-mindedly touching her black eye.

"And naturally you went in there and got yourself a bruising, didn't you?" Tarou asked, somewhat amused by Harune's impulse to fight.

"Un. Then Asuma and Gai came in and stopped anything from really happening, and I had to go talk to both of them. Genma said something like Kakashi was pissed off about the whole thing because he liked me, but that's impossible…" the girl trailed off, and swallowed hard. "Kakashi loved Rin-nee-chan. And even though Rin-nee-chan isn't here anymore, he still loves her," she finished bitterly. Tarou looked at Harune sympathetically. Oftentimes it was easy for him to forget that shinobi were just people too, and the veteran kunoichi was still just a teenage girl, with teenage girl problems. He poured her another shot.

"Unrequited love is a bitch," he chuckled, and poured himself a shot too, drinking it with Harune.

"I don't love him," she muttered after downing the shot. Tarou looked at her questioningly. "I can't love him," she sighed, her frustration and heartbreak making itself known in her tone.

"Why not?" Tarou prodded. He was a much bigger gossip that he cared to admit.

"It doesn't matter," Harune said darkly, getting up a little too abruptly, and having to steady herself. "Anyway, see you around, Tarou-san," she said, dumping a whole bunch of yen on the bar, not bothering to count.

"Harune, you're tipping me more that your drinks actually cost," Tarou noted, always shocked by how little Harune seemed to care about her money, but the girl was already gone.

* * *

Kakashi was out on a midnight walk; he couldn't sleep and the fresh air helped him to think. He hated being given time off; he wondered how Harune managed to stay trapped in the village without dying of boredom. Then again, Harune was a resourceful girl; she somehow always figured out how to make the most out of even the worst situations.

The solitary jonin was walking past the main gate when he realized someone was standing in front of it, facing outwards into the horizon, made pitch black in the night.

"Oi!" Kakashi called out suspiciously, approaching the mysterious figure. He was about to grab them when they didn't respond, but he quickly refrained when he realized that it was just Harune.

"Haru-chan?" Kakashi said tentatively, trying to get the girl's attention. She kept her gaze on the intimidating darkness outside the village. Kakashi followed her stare, and saw nothing.

"What are…what are you looking at?" he asked hesitantly, her unresponsiveness beginning to worry him.

Still no answer.

"Harune!" Kakashi said, more demandingly this time, and took her hand in his. It was burning hot.

"He's gonna come back," she said finally.

"He's gonna…" Kakashi repeated, watching Harune carefully. Her green eyes were watery; she was on the verge of tears, but her expression was determined and faithful.

Kakashi's eyes widened as he realized what Harune was talking about. She had done something similar before, when Obito had died, and Team Minato had returned to Konoha without him. For 3 nights in a row, the then 12 year old Harune stood at the main gate, waiting for Obito to emerge from the darkness and came home.

"Harune," Kakashi repeated her name once more, quietly, and stepped in front of her into her line of sight. "He's not coming back." It pained the jonin to say it, and he felt a stabbing pain in his heart when Harune finally looked up to him, tears running silently down her cheeks.

"Kakashi," she whispered, as though she had only just noticed him. "I miss Obito-nii-chan," she said. Kakashi gave her hand a tight squeeze.

"I know," he said, and furrowed his brows. He only smelled the alcohol now. She was drunk. "C'mon," he said gently, putting his arm around her waist, and felt hers respond in kind.

"My dad's gonna kill me," Harune muttered. Kakashi didn't answer. She had stopped crying, and he didn't want to ruin that by reminding her that her father was dead as well.

"Since when do you drink?" he asked instead, holding her tighter to him when he felt her sway gently.

"Since, like, Genma took me with the whole group," Harune answered, her drunkenness preventing her from recognizing the consequences this statement would incite. Kakashi involuntarily let out a low growl. He couldn't believe he had trusted _Genma, of all people_, to keep an eye on his best friend while he was away. Not only did he end up screwing her, but he turned her into a fucking alcoholic.

"You two hang out a lot, huh?" Kakashi remarked, fighting to keep his own anger at bay. The last thing she needed right now was for him to lose his temper.

"Not really. I mean, not any more than the others. He's busy with the Hokage's business, and I've got Ino-chan to take care of and Inoichi-sensei's paper work to do. And sometimes I help Himei-san at the flowershop. So we only hang out here and there," Harune explained. Kakashi was impressed by how articulate she was, despite her intoxication.

"Do you like him?" Kakashi asked, recognizing the opportunity to get information from her with little to no resistance on her part.

"Of course I do; he's my friend," Harune answered as a matter-of-factly.

"That's not what I meant," Kakashi said. "I mean, do you love him," he clarified. At this, Harune scoffed.

"How can I love a man who considers me a friend," she said simply, without remorse.

_So it didn't hurt her to end it, _Kakashi thought. It had only dawned on him after their conversation that morning that Harune may have actually fallen in love with Genma, and he would have felt horrible if he had forced her to end it for his own selfishness. It relieved him to hear that this was not the case.

When the pair reached Kakashi's house, Harune halted.

"What are you doing, Haru-chan? Come on," Kakashi coaxed, trying to lead her in by the hand when she pulled away from him. She shook her head.

"I'm gonna go now," she said quietly. Kakashi frowned.

"Harune," he began, "I'm not letting you go home on your own. You're too drunk. Just stay over at my place for the night, and you can go home tomorrow," he tried to convince her. She lived quite a ways off from him, and he didn't feel like walking her all the way there and back. Besides, she looked like she was about to pass out; he doubted she could even walk that distance.

Harune's mind was cloudy, and she felt incredibly dizzy, but the last time she was in this situation, she ended up sleeping with Genma. That couldn't happen with Kakashi. She shook her head again.

Feeling slightly exasperated, Kakashi approached Harune. He had never seen her like this, but he knew enough to understand that she needed to be taken care of right now. There was no way he was going to let her shut him out, not tonight, even if it meant he had to fight his stubborn and hot-headed adversary to get her to cooperate.

"Harune," Kakashi repeated firmly, standing not a foot away from her. He towered over the 5'3" girl, and though he realized he should have probably been adopting a more gentle approach given Harune's current state, her reaction to his intimidation tactic proved that she was going to be difficult.

_You're always such a child_, the sober ninja sighed internally.

Harune stood her ground, defiantly placing her hands on her hips and looking up to meet Kakashi's glare.

"Don't make me carry you inside, Kamineko," the 19 year old threatened, struggling to keep up his tough and steely façade.

"You couldn't do that even if you tried," Harune singsonged teasingly, swaying slightly. Kakashi readied himself to catch her in case she fell over.

"Che. You're drunk, Harune. I could have you pinned in half a second," Kakashi replied cockily, almost failing to hide his amusement when his best friend crossed her arms indignantly and scrunched her nose at him. She could be so incredibly cute sometimes.

"Not even," she argued, visibly upset by this insult. Kakashi couldn't hold back his chuckle, and the stern look in his eyes softened.

"Would you please just come inside, Harune?" he asked one last time. When she didn't respond, he huffed in annoyance, and turned his back to her, only to turn back around in a panic when he heard her slump to the ground.

"Harune!" he cried, kneeling down beside the unconscious girl.

"Why are you so fucking stubborn," he muttered as he picked up her limp body.

Kakashi kicked open his front door, Harune in his arms. It was cliché, but he had never seen the girl look so calm and peaceful.

"You see what you do, Hothead," Kakashi said, fondly this time, as he lay her down on his bed and tucked her in.

He himself wasn't all that sleepy just yet, so he settled himself down in his kitchen to pick up where he left off in his Icha Icha novel.


	16. Confessions

It was quite some time before Kakashi heard the tiny sniffles floating in the air. They were faint, and he had to strain his ears to even hear them at all. Putting his book down, he followed the sound, and found out that they were coming from none other than Harune, who was sitting up in his bed, hugging her knees as she shook with muffled sobs.

"Harune…" Kakashi murmured, standing in the doorway of his bedroom. She immediately snapped her head up at her name, roughly wiping her face.

"Kakashi-kun," she tried to say, but her voice cracked. "Gomen, I didn't mean to wake you, she managed through her hyperventilations. Kakashi quickly shook his head.

"No, you didn't, I was just reading and I heard you…" he replied, trailing off.

"Oh…sorry," she repeated meekly. Kakashi stepped into his room and sat beside her on the bed.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked uncertainly. The Hatake wasn't particularly very good at comforting people, now was he very tactful at all, but he felt the need to try and soothe the hyperventilating Harune, who seemed to have no control over the tears pouring down her cheeks.

"What's there to talk about," she replied brusquely, her face buried in her knees. Kakashi understood Harune completely; neither of them were ever able to clearly vocalize why they were always so full of resentment and hate; they just knew they were.

"Do you do this often?" Kakashi asked in response. He was sitting on the edge of the bed, so he couldn't see Harune, who was sitting perpendicular to him. He could, however, see her shadow cast on the floor in the moonlight, and he watched as she hugged herself even closer.

"You mean do I cry like a little bitch often?" Harune replied bitterly.

"I mean do you drink yourself unconscious often," Kakashi clarified solemnly.

"It takes it all away," the 17 year old answered indirectly, unwilling to admit that she had in fact developed a drinking problem.

"Are you still drunk?" Kakashi asked, hoping he wasn't pushing Harune too far.

"Tipsy," Harune said, rubbing her temple.

"It's probably healthier for you to talk about it than to try to drink it away," Kakashi chided.

"It's definitely healthier for you to talk about it than to kill every hope of re-tracking Orochimaru," Harune muttered. Kakashi turned abruptly to look at her, tensed and wondering how the temporary civilian knew of his most recent missions' success rates.

"It's not your fault though," she continued, and she could feel him relax ever so slightly beside her, but he still watched her carefully.

"I should have told you from the beginning," she lamented, not looking up to meet his studying gaze. "I just up and left. I'm sorry," she finished with a whisper.

"It was your mission," Kakashi replied. In truth, he was bitter that Harune hadn't warned him about the mission three years ago; he liked to think that had the roles been reversed, he would have confided in her instantly. Then again, that would have gone against the rules and regulations.

But he would have done it.

He would break any rule for Harune.

"It was a fucked up mission," Harune snorted in contempt.

Kakashi turned back away from Harune, and they once again found themselves in silence.

"Did you love her?" Harune asked suddenly. Kakashi was confused by the lack of context.

"What?" he asked dumbly.

"Rin. Did you love Rin?" Harune asked. Kakashi wasn't sure how this confused him even more, but it did.

"What?!" he asked again, maneuvering his way onto his bed and sitting cross-legged directly in front of Harune. He almost wished he hadn't; the pained look in her eyes pierced his heart and made him feel guilty, for some reason he couldn't quite pinpoint.

"Yes," he said slowly. Harune hugged herself even closer and buried her face in her knees. "But not in the way you're talking about," he finished. Harune didn't move, but Kakashi could hear that her breathing had slowed, as though she was somewhat relieved by this last.

"Of course I loved Rin, she was my teammate, my friend. I loved her the way you loved Takeo and Katsu," the 19 year old explained.

"Rin loved you," Harune said. Kakashi found himself leaning in closer to be able to catch what Harune was saying; having her head tucked in her knees muffled her voice. "She loved you the way—" she started, but she bit her tongue before she could say, "the way I love you". Kakashi scooted up closer to Harune and brushed her overgrown bangs back, prompting her to look up at him.

"You know, I can't hear you very well when you talk into your knees like that, Haru-chan," he said gently. Her face was still extremely hot, and her cheeks were rosy beneath her tattoos. There was no way she was only a little tipsy.

"I know she loved me, but Obito loved her," he said.

"If Rin wasn't alive, you wouldn't have cared when I left," Harune voiced one of her most recurring thoughts aloud. Kakashi frowned.

"What in the hell makes you think that?" he asked, stung.

"You would have had her around. You wouldn't have been alone. There wouldn't have been any reason for you to come after me," Harune whispered, hurting herself with her own words. Kakashi stared at her incredulously.

"Do you think that lowly of me?" he asked, hurt that Harune could even imagine that he would abandon her so easily.

"I was so jealous of her," Harune said ruefully, ignoring Kakashi's question. The Hatake was getting slightly frustrated by the girl's lack of context and continuity, but he reminded himself that she was drunk, and therefore not thinking very clearly.

"You adored Rin; you followed her around everywhere," Kakashi replied skeptically, deciding that it would be best if he just tried to keep up with Harune's train of thought.

"Che, yeah, but I hated that she was part of your team. I mean, her, of all people. I made so much more sense! Obito was my cousin, and you and I had known each other forever," Harune admitted. She realized that she would regret everything she was divulging the next morning, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop the words from leaving her mouth.

"Fuck, she'd come back every day after your training and go on and on about how great you were. Like I didn't know," the suspended jonin grumbled sourly. Suddenly, as though she had just realized something, her eyes widened and began to fill with tears again.

"I'm a horrible person," she choked out, and buried her face in her hands.

_She's difficult enough to read when she's sober, let alone drunk, _Kakashi thought.

"What are you talking about, Harune?" he asked, fighting back the overwhelming desire to pull the quivering girl into his lap and stroke her hair until she calmed down.

"Of course, I was heartbroken when you came back without Rin that day, but, at the same time, I—" Harune paused, unable to bring herself to confess that she had been simultaneously relieved that she would no longer have to endure the medic-nin talking about her love for Kakashi, nor Kakashi practically ignoring her for the sake of fulfilling his pledge to Obito to safeguard Rin with his life.

Kakashi, on his own part, didn't need Harune to explicitly say it; he could take a pretty educated guess as to what she meant. It was awful, yes, but if he was going to be honest with himself, he had felt the same way about Isamu Takeo and Orokone Katsu.

Granted, Harune's former teammates had been much older than she, and yet Kakashi had always been extremely jealous of their relationship with his best friend. The three ninja were nearly inseparable during Team Kushina's glory days, and they had clearly formed a bond that Kakashi felt he could never compare to, despite having been friends with Harune practically since infancy. When they passed away, as cruel and revolting a thought it was, Kakashi couldn't help but feel even a little appeased that he would no longer have to compete with them for Harune's attention.

Kakashi felt dirty for it, but he was somewhat relieved now that he knew that he wasn't the only one who felt that way.

"Harune," Kakashi said, pushing her long hair back out of her tear-streaked face and placing his hand on the back of her neck. "Harune, look at me," he said, not commandingly, but quite gently, as though it was more of a plea than a demand.

Harune slowly lifted her head, but avoided Kakashi's dark, troubled eyes. Kakashi inched forward, setting his legs out on either side of her body, and leaned in to press his forehead to hers.

"Harune," he whispered, "Please, look at me," he repeated. The girl's large green eyes, glistening with the tears that threatened to overflow once more, finally looked up to meet his.

"You have got to be the strongest, kindest, and most genuine person I know. You are beautiful and intelligent. I met you when I was 5, and you were just a bratty little snot-nosed kid who thought she was all it because she was running around playing with tantōs at the age of 3. Even then, from the very beginning, I knew, deep down, that I was meant to protect you. I was made to help you, grow with you, and stick by your side no matter what happened. You know I would never abandon you. Not now, not ever, and it's not because you're all I have left. Regardless of whether or not Rin, Obito, or Minato-sensei were still with us, I would have spent the rest of my life trying to bring you back," the silver haired Hatake admitted, fighting against the lump in his throat and taken aback by his apparent ability to so easily confess his love for the broken girl sitting before him.

"Kakashi…We can't…I-I can't…" Harune choked out, wide-eyed as she realized the significance of her best friend's words. Before she could continue, she was silenced when she felt Kakashi's warm lips press gently against hers. At first, she was startled, and wondered when he had removed his mask, but she quickly found her body relaxing into his as he pulled her closer to him.

Her slim figure was tiny in comparison to his own, more muscular build, but Kakashi couldn't help but notice how perfectly their bodies fit into each other when he pulled her into his lap, wrapping his arms around her waist and feeling her toned legs respond in kind. Before long, Kakashi's initially very soft and loving kiss turned into a heated and passionate make-out session, and Kakashi found himself lying on top of a shirtless Harune, feeling the warmth radiating from her body on his own bare chest.

He had been with a couple other girls before, but never had the 19 year old jonin felt this way. There was much more between him and Harune, and it resonated in the littlest of things, like the way she weaved her fingers through his silver locks and he cupped her face in his hands as he kissed her.

"Ka-Kakashi-kun," Harune panted, fighting desperately to control the growing desire to give herself to the man she had always known she felt most comfortable and the most at home with. He was so different than Genma, so much more intense and intimate. This was about more than just the physicality of their proximity to one another; this connected the two of them on a much deeper, emotional level. Kakashi was the _one_, but…

"Yes?" the jonin hummed in response, breathing down her neck and sending shivers through her whole body. He wanted Harune so bad, to show her how much she meant to him and how much he loved her.

"I-I can't," Harune breathed heavily, regretting it even as the words escaped her lips. Kakashi shot up from where he was planting kisses on the base of her neck to meet her eyes.

"Can't what?" he asked, though he knew what she was trying to say. With a low grunt, Kakashi rolled off Harune and lay down beside her, feeling rejected and horribly frustrated. So she could fuck Genma, but even after he had given her his heart and professed his true feelings to her, she couldn't sleep with him.

"I'm sorry," Harune's hoarse voice broke the dark silence. Kakashi closed his eyes. She was crying again.

"I can't Kakashi-kun. I can't," Harune choked out, turning on her side so her back faced the man beside her.

"Everyone… everyone I've ever… they've all died… and if I let myself… if I let you in… and I lose you too, I'll…" she tried desperately to articulate why she refused to let herself love her best friend.

Words didn't come easily for Harune, not unless she was making some wisecrack about an otherwise serious situation, but even she recognized that this was the last time and place she should even think about making some sort of stupid sarcastic comment. Dealing with serious circumstances was one of the brazen ex-kunoichi's greatest flaws, and it was all she could do to hope that the man lying beside her could understand that she could not allow herself to love him, for fear of losing him to the cruel fate shinobi were destined to live.

She lay there, drowning in her own pain and sorrow, before she felt Kakashi's strong arm hug her tiny body from behind.

It pained him to know that the love of his life could not reciprocate his feelings, but he understood why Harune didn't want to. At such a young age, she had already suffered more than most do in an entire lifetime, and it was a true testament to her strength to see her carry herself so boldly and brightly through life. Kakashi couldn't blame the last Kamineko for having her limits; on the contrary, he had to respect it.

"It's okay," Kakashi said soothingly, and pulled her closer into him, inhaling her familiar sweet scent. "But whether or not you love me, I will always be there for you and love you until the day I die. I wasn't lying when I said I'd protect you with my life," he reassured her. He felt Harune tremble ever so slightly, followed by the warm wetness of her tears on his arm.

"Shh, just go to sleep, Harune. You'll feel better in the morning," Kakashi promised, and before long, he felt Harune's breathing slow and steady itself to a peaceful rhythm, and their heartbeats fell in sync as he let his drowsiness overcome him and pull him into a deep slumber.


	17. Ninpou: Act like Nothing Happened Jutsu

**_Before y'all say anything…I know that Kakashi canonically doesn't have Inuzuka markings on his face… I had always really like the idea of him being a descendant of the ninken-using clan, and it is for that reason that I had included it in my fic since the beginning. But, for the sake of trying to remain as canonically accurate as possible, I've found a way to remove them from our favourite copy-ninja._** **_Just bear with me._**

**_Also, I've finally finished my semester (yay!), so that means I'll be updating more frequently for the next little while. I'll do my best to update at least once a week, but sometimes it might end up being more. Just wanted to say thank you so much for reading, I really appreciate every single one of you! _**

**_Much love, _**

**_hareonaxx_**

* * *

Harune awoke, feeling warm and incredibly secure. It was an unfamiliar feeling, but she kept her eyes shut, relishing in how comfortable she was, and thinking about how she could probably lie there for the rest of her life. When she finally did open her eyes however, the Kamineko found herself still wrapped in Kakashi's protective embrace, both their hands entwined.

It was only when memories of the previous night began to resurface in her mind that contented warmth within her quickly transformed into a dark, sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. She slowly turned herself over so she could face Kakashi, careful not to wake him up in the process.

It was rare for Harune to see Kakashi unmasked, even if she was his best friend, and it was the first time she had the chance to take a good look at him since her return to Konoha nearly five months prior. Harune had never quite understood why the Hatake wore a mask all the time; she had always found him to be incredibly handsome, and his journey from adolescence to adulthood only made him that much more attractive.

She traced the outlines of the Inuzuka fang-like markings on his cheeks with her eyes, and couldn't help but smile when they landed on the beauty mark sitting on the left side of his chin. Hatake Kakashi was not a man known to be insecure, rather, quite the contrary. Harune, however, knew that the otherwise aloof jonin was, for reasons unknown, quite self-conscious about his beauty mark.

Harune's smile slowly faltered, and she buried her face into Kakashi's chest. He smelled warm, almost like a fire, which only made sense to Harune when she remembered that he had an affinity for lightning-natured chakra.

"I'm sorry, Kashi-kun. You have no idea how sorry I am," she whispered into him, not realizing that he had woken up when she tucked herself closer into his body. He, however, kept his eyes closed and breath steady, knowing that if she was aware that he was listening, she would silence herself immediately.

"I wish I could tell you how much I…" she continued. Kakashi noticed for the first time that Harune had not once said the word "love" since the night before all the way until now; every time she was about to, she trailed off. Kakashi could understand why based on her half-drunken explanation from the precious night, but at the same time, even he, being as emotionally stunted as he was, couldn't fully comprehend her aversion to accepting her true feelings for him.

"…but I can't. I'm cursed, Kakashi; I carry death and destruction with me, and I refuse to drag you or anyone else down. I hope you can find it in you to understand," she finished, praying that, even though he was asleep, her words might resonate somewhere within him, and he could forgive her.

It was when Harune slipped her way out of Kakashi's hold that said jonin decided it would be a good time to pretend to wake up himself.

"Yo," he yawned, as he watched Harune pull on her top.

"Ohayo," she squeaked, startled to hear Kakashi's voice from behind her. "Gomen, I didn't mean to wake you up," she apologized, pushing her bangs back, only to have them fall back over her face.

"Don't worry about it," Kakashi dismissed, smiling slightly. There was an awkward pause; Harune stood at the foot of the bed, braiding her long black hair nervously, and Kakashi propped himself up in his bed, trying his best to not to admire her so obviously.

"Uhm, I'll get breakfast going," the girl said suddenly, breaking the silence, and darted out of the room.

Kakashi sat himself up completely on the bed and ran his hand through his hair, looking at the spot where Harune had just been standing. It was rare to see her get so flustered, but given the circumstances, he couldn't blame her. He felt awful for having put her in such an awkward situation; he really should have kept his feelings to himself.

"Che, you really are a screw-up," the 19 year old sighed, bowing his head dismally.

_The best thing I could do for her right now is just act normally and pretend like nothing happened. It's not her fault that she can't return the feeling,_ Kakashi decided. If he loved her, he'd let her be.

* * *

"Are you working today?" Kakashi asked between mouthfuls of egg and rice. Harune shook her head.

"No, Inoichi-sensei is going to be staying in the village this week, so he said he'll be taking care of his paperwork personally," she explained, fiddling with her own food.

"Are you taking care of Ino today?" Kakashi asked in response. Again, Harune shook her head.

"It's Sunday," she reminded him before taking a bite of egg and rice herself. "Although, I do have some training to get to today," the suspended jonin said thoughtfully, remembering the promise she had made to little Tenten when she had picked up Ino from the daycare a couple of days ago.

"Sou ka," Kakashi replied, pulling up his mask after he finished his food. Harune's eyes lit up, as though she had just remembered something important.

"Kashi-kun, why do you wear a mask?" she asked suddenly, catching her reserved silver-haired friend off guard. In the 12 years that they had known each other, not once had Harune made any sort of sign of interest as to why the last Hatake had consistently sported a mask, not until now. Kakashi racked his brain for anything that might have incited such a sudden curiosity in his rather "don't-ask-don't-tell"-minded best friend, but came up with nothing. It wasn't like it was the first time Harune had seen Kakashi unmasked; such a thing would have been fundamentally impossible considering how close the pair had been since their early childhood, so why did she suddenly feel the need to question him about his motivation?

"It…it confuses enemies," he lied quickly, unwilling to reveal his true reasoning. Unfortunately for him, Harune didn't seem very satisfied with this response.

"You're ANBU. You already have a mask for that purpose; they give you one," she countered. Kakashi scowled.

"Does it matter why I wear a mask?" he snapped. Harune raised an eyebrow at the usually cool and impassive jonin, but said nothing as she got up and cleared the table.

"I guess not," she said nonchalantly, but smirked when her back was turned to him.

_Now he'll be thinking about this all day,_ she thought, fully aware that Kakashi would not only feel guilty about having lost his patience with her, but as an apology, he would be more than likely to disclose the true purpose of the mask that had come to make him infamous, along with the Sharingan Obito had gifted him with.

"Anyway, I gotta get going, I've got some training to do," Harune flashed Kakashi a small smile, dismissing the subject of his mysterious mask completely. "Jaa ne," she called out as she shut the door behind her, leaving Kakashi alone with his thoughts.

* * *

"Alright, show me what you've got," Harune prompted the 6 year old in front of her.

With a high-pitched battle cry, Tenten came at her sensei with full force, hands loaded with shuriken and ready to attack. Harune watched carefully, waiting for signs of Tenten's use of the new fuinjutsu she had been taught a few weeks prior. Sure enough, the tiny Academy student had used the shuriken she wielded as a diversion, pulling out a staff from a sealing scroll while the suspended jonin was busy blocking the ninja stars.

"I will defeat you, Harune-senpai!" Tenten yelled with a fierce determination. Harune couldn't help but smile; her little student's attacks were all too predictable, but she was more than happy to see that the bukijutsu user was becoming quite comfortable with sealing techniques.

There had been too many occasions at the Academy where Harune had nearly been banned from playing with the children because Tenten had left her weapons scattered everywhere, and Harune had to take the blame so as to prevent the child from being suspended for unauthorized possession of weaponry. As a result, Harune took it upon herself to teach the weapon-crazy 6 year old to seal away her arsenal into much more acceptable and school-appropriate mediums, like scrolls. While her young apprentice talked only about how she strived to become a great medical ninja, Harune tried her best to avoid talking of medical ninjutsu and focused on what she could help the aspiring kunoichi out with, and Tenten seemed to have no qualms with this whatsoever, much to Harune's relief.

"Sugoi, senpai," the 6 year old panted, having tired herself out trying to overcome the jonin. Harune smiled brightly, patting Tenten on the head.

"Keep training like that and sooner or later, you'll be just as strong as me, if not stronger," she encouraged. Tenten beamed proudly.

"Arigato, senpai!" she bowed respectfully. "I have to go now, though, my mother wants me home for lunch," she finished regretfully, gathering her shuriken and sealing them away into their scrolls. "See you tomorrow, senpai!" she waved finally, running off back towards the village.

* * *

It was rare that Harune had absolutely nothing to do, but she hated when it did happen.

"Haru-chan!" Gai's voice stopped the daydreaming 17 year old in her tracks, and she turned to face the source of the call. Sure enough, Gai, Asuma, Kurenai, and Shizune were sitting in the dango shop, hanging out.

"Hey," Harune smiled, joining them.

"Have you seen Kakashi?" Gai asked immediately, cutting straight to the chase.

"Uhm, yeah, actually," Harune replied, somewhat taken aback by how direct and serious Gai was.

"He keeps ignoring us," Gai said, eyeing Harune. "Did you talk to him about what happened?"

At this, Harune felt her cheeks burn up as she remembered the night before.

"Yeah…yeah I did. Everything's alright," she lied, certain that Kakashi would be just as reluctant to let the others know about their confessions to each other as she was.

"Oh, so he's just being an asshole," Asuma grumbled, swallowing a stick of dango. Harune glared at him.

"Serving in ANBU is tough," she snapped. "Not only that, but it's not like you just met him. Kakashi-kun's always been a bit of an introvert."

Granted, Kakashi's lack of interest in hanging out with any of their friends tended to annoy even Harune herself, but she often remembered that not everyone was as open and social as Gai, and she sure as hell wouldn't stand to let any of her friends call Kakashi an asshole. He was a good man, and he did his best.

"But he still lets Rin and Obito get to him," Kurenai said gently. "You've moved on, not only from them, but from Katsu and Takeo as well."

"We all cope differently," Harune said simply, standing up. The emotionally compromised ex-kunoichi did not feel like dealing with her comrades' judgments and risk blowing up at them. They didn't understand anything about what losing their teammates was like, let alone their families, and Harune didn't want to think about any of that at the moment. The past couple of days alone had held enough emotional pressure, and the 17 year old was finding it increasingly difficult to keep herself together.

"Haru-chan," Gai started, about to try to convince the dark-haired girl to stay, but his voice faltered when he caught sight of the hard look in her eyes. Instead, after she left, he turned to Asuma and Kurenai.

"You guys pissed her off," he sulked. Asuma rolled his eyes and Kurenai looked at the spot Harune had been sitting apologetically.

"Where did she get the black eye?" Shizune asked curiously, completely unaware of the drama within their circle of friends.

* * *

"Kakashi-senpai!" Tenzo called after the ANBU captain, who was strolling casually through the village, his nose buried in his Icha-Icha book.

"Hm?" Kakashi acknowledged the 15 year old, without looking up.

"When's our next mission?" Tenzo asked eagerly, adjusting his stride to match his role model's. Kakashi shrugged.

"The Hokage gave me some time off," he replied.

"How long?" Tenzo asked.

"I don't know," the captain answered, snapping his book shut and tucking it into his pocket. "I'm assuming you haven't been assigned anything either?" It was Tenzo's turn to shake his head.

Kakashi looked up to the sky thoughtfully.

"You busy?" he finally asked, looking at the boy beside him. Again, Tenzo shook his head.

"Good," Kakashi said. "Come with me."


	18. Mokuton

Doton. Raiton. Katon. Suiton.

Two of the three great dojutsu and Light Release.

The Yamanaka Mind-Body Techniques and the Isamu Blood Puppet Jutsu.

4 chakra natures, 3 kekkei genkai, and 2 clans' hiden jutsus.

Throw in a deadly expertise in kenjutsu and the capacity to assimilate anyone's chakra and adopt it as her own, and the result was Kamineko Harune. _This _was the true strength of the feline summoner, and she knew she was capable of so much more.

Harune despised herself for it, but there were times where she even so much as _missed_ her time working under Orochimaru. The defected Sannin, though sadistic and unfathomably cruel, had done nothing but continuously encourage the growth of the orphaned Kamineko. Granted, while his goal to someday possess her and attain her overwhelming power for his own disposal was the root of this, Harune had decided that the benefits ultimately outweighed the suffering she had endured.

Harune wondered if the Hokage had known that Harune shared many more similarities with his former pupil than she'd care to admit. She couldn't blame Orochimaru for coveting every jutsu known to man; to her, such a goal made perfect sense: who wouldn't want to become indestructible? Granted, the pale, snake-resembling criminal's methods of achieving his life-long aspiration lacked much to be desired, and it was ultimately his inhumane experimentation that lead him to be exiled from his home in Konohagakure. Then again, in a village that seemed to supress and sort of _real_ strength, what would be the point of sticking around anyway? The Hokage had done nothing but hinder Harune out of his own fear, the same way he had Orochimaru…

_Fucking shit, stop it, Harune, _the suspended kunoichi scolded herself. _You can hardly fucking remember anything about your time working with that sadistic freak!_

Harune couldn't help but wonder what would happen if she just picked up and left the village. Nothing in Konoha would help her remember what had been blocked from her memory, but maybe escaping the monotonous humdrum of her hometown would awaken something within her. What she really wanted was intel on the Akatsuki and what she was doing with them.

Her green eyes were glazed over as she stared off far into the horizon. Leaving Konoha unauthorized would equate to renouncing her status as a kunoichi of the Leaf, for good. Not that it mattered. Hiruzen was keeping her leashed to the village; he had practically stripped her of her pride as a shinobi. In an effort to control her impulse to depart right then and there, Harune briefly ran through a list of reasons why she shouldn't, and only came up with one good enough to make her rethink her decision.

As if on cue, Kakashi's voice called out to Harune from a distance, interrupting her internal dispute. He had a kid with him. It was only then that Harune realized that she had wandered her way back into the village's training grounds.

She waved, walking towards the pair approaching her. She squinted to try and get a better look at the boy walking with Kakashi, but she didn't recognize his face. She could, however, make out his uniform. It was ANBU. He must have been one of Kakashi's teammates.

"Senpai, is that who I think it is?" Tenzo's eyes widened as Harune approached them, recognizing the blood-red tiger-stripe impressions on her dark face. This woman had been the number one priority in the ANBU bingo book after Orochimaru for as long as he had been a part of Team Rō, and he could even remember Danzou talking about the deadly kunoichi on more than one occasion while he was still a member of Root.

Kakashi nodded.

"Un, that's Kamineko Harune," he confirmed, flashing Tenzo a small eye-smile to reassure the boy that the dark-haired and rather intimidating-looking woman was no threat.

"What the hell is she doing in Konoha? Why isn't she—wait, senpai, why aren't we arresting her?! She's a wanted criminal!" Tenzo exclaimed, alarmed.

"Tenzo, what happened to her file in the bingo book," Kakashi asked simply, his eyes still following Harune's graceful walk, but stopping to allow his junior comrade a chance to think.

"Well, it…it was crossed out. I has always assumed it was because she'd been killed and she wasn't our responsibility anymore…" Tenzo said uncertainly.

"She's not a criminal, Tenzo," Kakashi spelled out for the mokuton user. "She was crossed out because she had only been put in the book to be found, not killed."

The 15 year old's large eyes stared at his senpai, unsure of what he was trying to say. He understood the words, sure, but he couldn't understand how a traitor of Konoha had been on ANBU's hitlist just to be captured, only to be set free to wander the streets of the very village she had forsaken.

"Kakashi-kun," Harune greeted cheerfully when she finally reached them, and smiled brightly in the boy's direction, who only stared at her bug-eyed in response. He was still mulling over what his ANBU captain had told him, but still couldn't quite make sense of it all.

Before he could think twice about the situation, Tenzo impulsively clapped his palms together, and large planks of wood shot up from the ground beneath Harune, effectively trapping her.

"Nice to meet you too," she grumbled. "Kakashi, I know we have our differences, but honestly, getting some kid to do your dirty work is just petty," the Kamineko said, half-jokingly. She doubted her best friend had actually brought this kid here to fight her; the silver-haired ANBU captain looked just as caught off guard as she.

Harune took a deep breath and concentrated her energy before sending sharp needles of chakra out of her body and into the wood binding her, shattering it into splinters.

"Tenzo!" Kakashi called out, making a move to restrain the unique Mokuton-user from attacking again; but Harune was quicker, and within seconds of breaking free from Tenzo's first trap, the suspended kunoichi had the 15 year old in a head lock, kunai pressed up against his throat.

Tenzo swallowed hard. He had never expected his opponent to break his Mokuton binding jutsu so easily; no one ever had before. The former Root operative had never really been all that competent in taijutsu; there had never been much need for him to train in hand-to-hand combat once he had perfected his mid to long range mokuton style, but now that this bloodthirsty criminal had her knife to his throat and poised to slice, he wished he could have done more than simply rely on his senpai to stop her.

"I thought they would keep their ANBU members better informed," Harune complained, lifting her kunai and releasing Tenzo from her bone-crushing grip. The 15 year old sighed in relief and sidled off to Kakashi's side.

"Harune, forgive him, he's still relatively new," Kakashi said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "I tried to explain to him that you're not a threat, but I mean…" he trailed off, eyeing the kunai his best friend was holding.

"My bad, I guess I didn't help just there, did I?" Harune apologized, smiling and slipping her kunai back into her boot. Her smile quickly faded as she relived the scene in her head and realized that the kid standing by Kakashi had just used Wood Release: a jutsu known only to have been used and mastered by the First Hokage.

"Kamineko Harune," the 17 year old introduced herself slowly, mulling over any possible explanations for Tenzo's abilities.

Tenzo just squinted suspiciously at Harune, making her want to shift uncomfortably. His stare was unsettling. Kakashi sighed. He cursed himself inwardly for expecting this encounter to have gone any other way than horribly awkward and problematic.

"This is Tenzo," he introduced his junior comrade on his behalf.

"Nice to meet you, Tenzo," Harune said distractedly, still thinking about the Mokuton as she stared at the splinters of wood now scattered across the training grounds.

"He has experience with Orochimaru," Kakashi said darkly, as though he had been reading her thoughts. The defected Sannin's former dojutsu experiment snapped her head up to look at Kakashi, then at Tenzo. "I thought you two might…fuck, I don't know what I thought, actually," Kakashi admitted, looking at Harune apologetically.

"How come I've never seen you before?" Harune asked Tenzo curiously. As Orochimaru's right hand, the overpowered Kamineko had committed every face of her fellow experiments to memory, and Tenzo's wasn't one of them.

"Danzou-sama took me under his wing when I was younger, before Orochimaru was forced into exile," the mokuton user said, sizing Harune up and deciding he could trust her, so long as Kakashi was around.

"You're Root?" It was Harune's turn to eye Tenzo suspiciously, aware of the relationship the village elder had had with the serpentine criminal.

"Was. I'm part of Team Rō, now, thanks to Kakashi-senpai," Tenzo clarified, more boldly. Harune grinned at Kakashi, who seemed to blush ever so slightly every time his junior comrade addressed him as his role model.

"Good job, 'Kashi-senpai. Danzou is a deceitful rat himself," she said, a mix of pride and fondness for her best friend in her tone.

_You must have broken quite a few rules to get that done_, Harune thought, a shadow of a smile playing across her face.

"So, the mokuton is Orochimaru's doing, huh?" Harune asked, crossing her arms. Tenzo nodded.

"It's actually a compound of Earth and Water natured chakras, but I've got Hashirama's cells merged in with my own, and that's why I can produce Wood Release," he explained proudly.

"Sou ka," Harune whispered thoughtfully. Not that she ever would, but the fact that Tenzo carried some of the Ichidaime's genetics meant that his Mokuton was not something she could absorb and use as her own. The Earth and Water chakra compound, however, was quite an intriguing idea.

"Anyway, I was hoping, Harune, if the Sandaime re-commissioned you, that you might be able to return to ANBU and join Team Rō, so meeting Tenzo beforehand could help out a bit with the teamwork," Kakashi said, interrupting Harune's thoughts.

"Che, yeah sure, _if_ the Sandaime ever re-commissions me," Harune muttered dejectedly.

"Well, _when_ he does," Kakashi smiled, placing a reassuring hand on the girl's shoulder, "you don't want to be out of practice, do you?" Kakashi knew that sparring always cheered Harune up, and sure enough, her eyes lit up at the suggestion.

* * *

Harune had always been strong. That, Kakashi knew, and it wasn't a surprise to anyone who had known her since she was a child. That being said, Kakashi was caught completely off guard by the force of her attacks as the pair sparred, aiming to pin the other on the ground and immobilise them. Initially, the ANBU captain wasn't sure whether or not he should go all out on the temporary civilian, unaware that Harune had diligently continued her training despite being withheld from missions, but within moments of fighting his jonin-leveled counterpart, he decided that there was no way in hell he could hold back, and he uncovered his Sharingan.

Tenzo had never seen his captain struggle so much during a simple sparring match. Against his other teammates in ANBU, Kakashi always came out on top. There was a reason he was the captain of the most elite ANBU squad in Konoha. And this Harune character just took that status and threw it out the window. For a while, the jonin duo looked like an even match, but the longer the battle went on, the easier it was to distinguish the power gap between them. It was Kakashi's Sharingan; because he wasn't a native member of the Uchiha clan, using the eye gifted to him by his late comrade drained him rapidly of his chakra, forcing him to have to end his battles quickly, efficiently, and usually with Raikiri. This made Harune one of the worst opponents for Kakashi, who seemed to Tenzo to practically have an unlimited amount of chakra and stamina.

What amazed the mokuton user most of all was how many natures both ninja had at their disposal. While Kakashi's affinity was lighting release, he also used Doton, Katon, and Suiton, depending on the element Harune was using.

It was Sharingan vs Sharingan, although Tenzo noticed that Harune's Sharingan was the same pale violet colour as the Byakugan of the Hyuuga; the only difference being the three tomoe circling the center.

_That must have been Orochimaru's doing_, the former Mokuton experiment thought as he examined Harune's eyes from afar.

"You're lucky I don't have my katana with me," Tenzo heard Harune's voice call out to her opponent. They were both crouching with about 50 metres between them, panting and recovering from the impact of their last attack. Kakashi chuckled.

"I wouldn't be dumb enough to challenge you if you had your katana on you," he retorted. He looked exhausted. Harune stood up, walked across the clearing they had practically obliterated, and knelt beside Kakashi, pulling him up and supporting his weight against her own.

"Not yet," he contested stubbornly, but Harune shook her head, and Tenzo caught a glimpse of the affectionate smile she had on her tattooed face.

"Let's call it a draw for now," she replied, the amusement obvious in her voice. "I can't let you kill yourself over a sparring match."

"Che, you think you're all cool," Kakashi smirked, pulling down his hitai-ate over his Sharingan.

"Coming from you. All you do is act cool," Harune snorted. Tenzo remained where he was, sitting among the trees in order to stay clear of the massive attacks the jonin had been throwing at each other. He was amzed by how at ease his ANBU captain was with this woman; he was completely drained and vulnerable and yet had no problems letting her come so close to him, let alone even take care of him. He had always known his captain to be stubbornly independent; while a huge advocate of teamwork, Kakashi didn't particularly like to acknowledge when he was injured or weakened, and he (hypocritically) hated relying on other people. Watching this same Hatake Kakashi so readily allow and trust Harune to come to his aid and even go so far as to tell him to quit fighting shocked the 15 year old more than a great deal.

Kakashi's complete trust in Harune also led Tenzo to question how the seemingly very kind, though undeniably quite terrifying kunoichi ended up at the top of ANBU's hitlist.

"You can quit looking at me like that; I'm not gonna bite your head off or anything, kid," Harune's voice brought Tenzo back to reality. He shook his head, realizing that he had been staring at the Kamineko wide-eyed and rather terrified while he was getting lost in his thoughts. Tenzo quickly stood up from his spot on the ground to help her support his captain, but Kakashi relieved Harune of his weight before the 15 year old could.

"I'm alright," he said firmly, but the look in his eye was grateful. "Although," he started, and both Tenzo and Harune directed their full attention to him, "I'm really hungry."

Harune giggled. She had been worried that Kakashi had pushed himself too far, but evidently he was fine.

"Let's go for ramen," she suggested. "My treat."

Tenzo looked at the woman, who was now smiling brightly at him, hoping he would accept her invitation to join them for lunch.

"Ramen sounds good," he grinned.

_What the hell could she have possibly done?_


	19. Kinton

As autumn settled down in Konoha, so did Kakashi. It had been several weeks since the Sandaime had called him up for a mission. After the first week, the ANBU captain went up to inquire about the lack of assignments, but after the Sandaime hinted at him heavily to just shut up and take the time off, Kakashi relinquished his mission addiction for the time being and enjoyed the village's peaceful atmosphere.

He had the sneaking suspicion that the Third was withholding missions from him with the (good) intention of giving him and Harune more time to spend in each other's company. Between her responsibilities as Ino's babysitter and Inoichi's assistant, Harune always had enough time to set aside to spend with her childhood best friend, much to Kakashi's growing dismay.

Of course, Kakashi loved Harune from the bottom of his heart, but he had come to realize that more often than not, he recognized inklings of his former teammates in her, especially of Rin. Ever since his more than awkward declaration of his feelings towards her, Kakashi couldn't shake the connections and parallels he was drawing between the headstrong Kamineko and the deceased medic-nin.

He couldn't not see Rin's bright liveliness shine through Harune's radiant smile. He couldn't ignore the comforting feeling that warmed his entire body whenever his eyes met Harune's in the same way that it had enveloped his body when Rin's brown eyes had locked with his. What was most jarring was the thrilling sensation that came whenever he so much as brushed his hand against Harune's. Rin had been the only other person who had really ever reached the level of intimacy with the highly guarded jonin; other than them, no one really ever regularly came into physical contact with Kakashi, save when they had engaged him in battle.

Kakashi had loved Rin, there was no denying that. The medic-nin had always had a huge crush on him, and she had latched on to him following Obito's death. Harune, who had detached herself from the pair as she grieved her cousin's passing, had ultimately caused Kakashi to seek solace in Rin's love, making her self-sacrifice that much more unbearable.

Of course, Kakashi could never tell Harune how he had truly felt about Rin; it was obvious that she was deeply insecure about her place in his heart in comparison to his former teammate.

The more Kakashi saw of Harune, the more he saw his deceased lover and his deceased friend, and it had quickly become too much to bear, so much so that Harune herself seemed to notice Kakashi's ever growing discomfort around her and had slowly begun to distance herself from him once more.

Harune wasn't entirely sure why Kakashi had suddenly become so withdrawn. There were times where he would readily join her for supper at her apartment, sharing trivial details about their day in the village, but the perceptive kunoichi always noticed that though Kakashi was present, he wasn't always necessarily _present_.

The tension between the pair almost made Harune wish that Kakashi would be sent back out on missions regularly again, simply for the sake of sparing herself from his deadpan stares and uneasy silences.

When she had finally given up altogether on trying to figure out what was on Kakashi's mind, Harune busied herself instead with more training.

Tenzo's unique Mokuton ability had inspired Harune to try and mould her own two affinities for lightning and earth to develop her own nature. This training she wanted to keep to herself, which was tricky considering her friends constantly insisted that she spend every moment of her free time with them. Whenever a curious Gai would inquire why Harune rejected their "invitations of friendship" so frequently, she would quickly lie about being overloaded with paperwork by the Intelligence Division.

The result of Harune's ceaseless training was one even she didn't expect. Though she intended to create her own nature, she hadn't had the slightest clue as to what would happen, assuming her endeavours even succeeded.

Harune's earth and lightning natured compound produced something she had dubbed as _Kinton_: Metal Release. Curious about her discovery, Harune thoroughly researched the logistics of the ninja arts and kekkei genkai. When she found no mention of any ninjutsu similar to her own, Harune decided to take advantage of her employment at the Intelligence Division and did some research in Konoha's privatized and confidential library. The closest thing she had found to her kinton was something the data books referred to as _Kōton_: Steel Release, however, little was known about the nature save that it was used mainly for defensive purposes, and had no known offensive abilities. Harune considered reading her father's journals to see if he had any information concerning either kinton or kōton, but every time she came face to face with the house she had grown up in, memories of her parents and her childhood resurfaces and sent her running back home before she could succumb to the grief that had tormented her every day for the last five years.

The lack of resources on Harune's unique nature forced her to test it on her own. She assessed its durability, composition, and lifespan, and with each finding Harune grew equally amazed and apprehensive. Once her kinton was produced, not only did it reign indestructible versus any of her weapons (including her original natures and Kuroda's sword transformation), but it would neither falter nor degrade unless she willed it to; otherwise, it was impenetrable. This only made sense to Harune when her research revealed that her kinton was a pure, unalloyed titanium, strengthened by her own chakra.

It had taken her two solid months of diligent training just to master producing the element at will; finding and maintaining the perfect ratio of lightning to earth chakra was a task that required much more effort than Harune had anticipated, however her natural gift for chakra control helped her a great deal. Once she had gotten the production of her kinton down pat, Harune focused on her shape manipulation, which, much to her relief, came easily. Winter was closing in on the Hidden Leaf by the time Harune decided that she was comfortable enough to employ her kinton manipulation in battle, should the opportunity ever arise.

* * *

"Harune," Kakashi greeted the girl one late November morning. Startled, Harune dropped the bag of rice she was holding on the snow-covered ground, earning herself a dirty look from the vendor.

"Kuso," she hissed under her breath, picking up the merchandise and letting out a sigh of relief when she found there was no damage she would have to compensate for.

"Kakashi," Harune looked up at her best friend, whose cheeks were a bright shade of pink. She couldn't tell whether it was from the cold or embarrassment of having startled her. She didn't ask, and instead turned to the vendor to pay for her groceries.

Kakashi watched as Harune paid, envying the vendor who was being graced by her warm smile and longing for her kindness to be directed towards him once again. It had been a while since they had seen each other, even if Kakashi had been on break from missions. Once Harune had taken notice of Kakashi's unease around her, she had, of course, tried to get him to talk about it, but he had shut her out, and, finally growing tired, Harune busied herself with her own work.

"What is it?" Harune said as she left the shelter of the stand, struggling to pull up her hood with her hands full of bags.

"I just wanted to check in, I guess," Kakashi replied, pulling Harune's hood up over her head for her.

"Still no missions?" Harune asked, but the indifference in her tone pierced Kakashi more violently than the cold ever could have. She was angry with him, and she was making no effort to hide it. Kakashi understood that she had every right to be with the way he had been treating her as of late, and he would prefer her ignorant disdain over the pain she would suffer if she knew he had to avoid her to avoid the haunting memories of Obito and Rin.

"Actually, that's why I thought I'd pass by," Kakashi began, trying his best to ignore Harune's icy demeanor. "I'm leaving for a mission tomorrow. I have a feeling I'm not going to get much free time after today, so I was curious to see if you were free."

"I've been village bound for like, six months now, Kakashi. When am I not free," Harune replied sharply.

"Look, if you don't want to, it's fine, I understand, just—" Kakashi started.

"No, I want to, Kashi-kun. You know I always want to see you. But for some reason, you look at me, and all I see is this… this anger in your eyes. And it's not that usual angsty thing you've got going on, that I can deal with because God knows I've got it too. But you look angry _with me_, and I don't know what I did," Harune snapped. Kakashi stared at Harune blankly, only seeing the same scolding look on her face that Rin had whenever he'd recklessly get himself injured.

"STOP THAT!" Harune yelled, shoving Kakashi roughly with her shoulder. "Why do you always do that?!"

"Shit, Harune, calm down!" Kakashi said, losing his balance and toppling backwards, pulling the angered girl down with him. Harune reflexively put her arms down in front of her, and she caught herself before her head could come crashing into Kakashi's. Her groceries went flying, but she didn't care. She was too preoccupied with her pent up irritation with him.

Kakashi looked up at Harune. Her face was flushed from her anger and the cold, and she was radiating heat. When she pushed up to try and get back on her feet, Kakashi impulsively held her down against his body, almost regretting it when she glared down at him, the pale violet of her Byaku-Sharingan reflecting his natural eye.

"Let go," she hissed.

"I said, calm down," Kakashi repeated.

"I'll calm down when you let me go," Harune snarled.

"I'll let you go when you calm down," Kakashi negotiated. He caught whiffs of her sweet scent as she struggled against his grip, her long hair occasionally whipping his masked face. He also detected a faint metallic scent emanating from her, though he considered it strange seeing as she had none of her equipment on her.

"Kakashi!" Harune almost whined as he rolled over and pinned her on her back, but her tone was more of a warning than anything else.

"I still see your Sharingan. You're not calm yet," Kakashi said coolly, though he had to exert a considerable amount of force to counter Harune, who was still struggling against him. For a brief moment, she seemed to surrender, and only when Kakashi allowed his grip to slacken did she shock him with a surge of electric chakra and knock him off with a left hook.

Scolding himself internally for having been so naïve, Kakashi missed the pain that flickered across Harune's eyes, which had returned to their natural dark green. Instead, by the time he had recovered from both the electric shock and the blow, he found Harune seething with anger.

"I don't know what your deal is Kakashi, but I'm so fucking done with your shit!" she yelled, her fists clenched. "You've pretty much ignored me for the past two months, but now that you're leaving on a mission tomorrow, all of a sudden I'm not such an annoyance anymore?!"

_She's reacting like Obito would, losing her temper like that,_ Kakashi thought.

_Fuck, no! She's acting like Harune, you dumb fuck, because she _is_ Harune. Not Rin, not Obito. Harune! _he scolded himself immediately after the thought, struggling to remind himself that the girl in front of him was neither one of his deceased teammates, but in fact the one and only constant in his entire life.

"Harune, I—" Kakashi began, trying to find a way to string together an apology before she could lose her temper once more, but he was too late.

"No. No, don't 'Harune' me. Don't waste your last day off on me, okay? Go find someone who you haven't been treating like shit for the past two months; if you can," Harune spat. Kakashi watched helplessly as she gathered her belongings before marching off.


	20. Harune's Resolve

"Hey, Kakashi, don't worry about Haru-chan. You know she's prone to losing her temper like that," Gai's reassuring voice played back in the ANBU captain's head.

Following Harune's outburst at him, Kakashi had sulked around the village for the remainder of the day, until Gai had caught a hold of him and took him out for drinks after challenging him to one of his competitions. It was the first time since Harune's kidnapping that Kakashi had allowed himself to get drunk, and he had, against all his better judgement, confided in his green-clad friend every last detail about his relationship with Harune since their childhood.

Naturally, not only was the silver-haired Hatake hungover beyond his wits, but sodden with embarrassment and regret the next morning as he prepared to head out on his first mission in months.

On his way out of the village, he walked by Harune's apartment, making a mental note to visit her immediately after his return and hoping that she would have forgiven him by then.

Harune, who had been struggling to conquer the urge to abandon Konoha in search for the answers to her memory block, had finally succumbed to the inner demons she had once waged war against, and resolved to pack her things and take matters into her own hands. The Sandaime, she decided, wasn't about to help her solve the mysteries behind her lost year and her affiliation with the most lethal criminal organization the world had ever known. The one thing that had kept her tied down to the village since her corrupt thoughts had begun to take over was Kakashi, and now that he seemed to have forgotten his "undying love" for her, Harune had all too quickly allowed her spiteful ambitions to infect her conscience. She needed answers, and she sure as hell wasn't going to find them in Konoha.

Though Harune seemed to have lost her self-control, the cunning kunoichi still had her wits about her. She recognized that simply walking out of the Leaf could and most assuredly would bring about issues, and the Sandaime would have ANBU agents on her tail and bringing her back home before she could even reach the border of the fire country.

She needed a plan, one that would divert from her departure and keep any threats the Leaf could pose at bay, at least until she could escape the confines of the Land of Fire. Once she was out of the country, she would become a free agent.

* * *

"Harune-chan!" Gai called after the conspiring kunoichi, chasing her as she sped her way through the busy crowd the Saturday after Kakashi's departure. She didn't want to see him, let alone speak to him, worried that the perpetually good-willed shinobi would somehow unwittingly convince her to remain in Konoha. Gai was a persistent man though, and, unable to take a hint, cornered Harune at a fruit stand.

"Oh, Gai-kun, it's been a while," Harune greeted, the smile on her face friendly and convincing. Gai nodded enthusiastically.

"What are you up to?" he inquired, tilting his head at the black satchel she had strapped across her body. It was loaded with supplies and rations she had nicked from various places, the Intelligence Division and Kakashi's apartment included. Harune adjusted it so that the bag rested on her back rather than her hip, and out of Gai's view.

"Oh, not much, just boring chores," she shrugged nonchalantly. "You know, groceries and stuff." Gai nodded understandingly.

"That's too bad. I was going to challenge you to sparr with me, but I don't want to interrupt your business," he said politely. "You also just reminded me that I should probably do the same. It's too bad we can't be in two places at once; that way we could've sparred _and_ shopped!" he laughed heartily. Harune smiled in response, and punched him playfully on the shoulder.

"Next time, Gai-kun," she promised, before turning around and blending right back into the crowd.

_Two places at once, kuso. Maito Gai, you're a fucking genius,_ Harune thought to herself as she darted this way and that, sidestepping civilians and doing her best to make it back home as quickly as possible.

It had taken less than a week for Harune to get her preparations in order before her trek. As a kunoichi who fought primarily with her katana and her ninjutsu, she didn't require too many supplies, save her swords, some spare kunai and shuriken, and a few explosive tags just in case. For food, she had been able to buy some soldier pills from the market, but because most knew of her status as a plain civilian, Harune hadn't been able to purchase enough without attracting prying questions from the shop owner, a shinobi himself. With the quick excuse of "they're cheaper than real food", Harune decided that she'd have to recover her rations from elsewhere. The resourceful kunoichi had managed to scavenge the rest from the hospital, the stocks at the Academy, and even Kakashi's own supply. The one thing she had been missing was a plausible diversion; something that would allow her enough time to get out without being noticed. This had been difficult, considering the multitude of responsibilities Harune had dedicated herself to, including serving as Ino's babysitter, Himei's flowershop clerk, and Inoichi's assistant. This last meant that Harune had to report to the Sandaime at least once a week with a summary of the activities of the Intelligence Division, and that had been one of Harune's primary concerns.

However, thanks to her eccentric comrade, Harune had finally solved the last piece of the puzzle.

* * *

Harune checked the clock. It read 5:37 PM. Although the short winter days meant that the sun set on Konoha much earlier than usual, she decided that it would be safest to leave only after the village had fallen asleep.

In order to save herself the misery of carrying a tent and spare clothes on her back, Harune sealed away most of her supplies into two small scrolls, leaving only her weapons and a few soldier pills on hand.

12:24 AM. Harune lay down in bed, turning on her side and waiting patiently for the clock to strike 3 AM. That seemed like a safe time. As she watched the seconds tick away, Harune's eyes caught sight of the _Icha Icha Paradise_ novel she had nicked from Kakashi's apartment when she had went in to "borrow" some of his supplies. In the half year since her return to the village, Harune had never seen him without a copy of one of those perverted fantasies, and naturally, seeing the bright orange book lying on his bedside table piqued the kunoichi's curiosity. Reaching over, Harune pulled the book now lying on her own bedside table and cracked it open to the first page.

_Love. It was something he had never believed in. Not until he met her…_

Reading the first lines made Harune cringe, and yet simultaneously further intrigued her. The 17 year old wanted to know what had snagged Kakashi and pulled him in so deep into the series of novels Jiraiya had written.

It was 15 minutes to her scheduled departure, but Harune had gotten so caught up in the sensuality of Jiraiya's perverse novel that she couldn't be bothered to care. In fact, she hadn't gotten too far in before she finally realized exactly _why_ Kakashi loved _Icha Icha_ so much, despite the stigma. Harune had heard that the novels had been publicly shamed because of their graphic content and were simply branded as porn, but reading it, Harune found that it was so much better than it was credited to be.

The plot was basic and formulaic, and yet Harune couldn't help but lose herself in the drama between the hero and his heroine. The hero, a misogynistic womanizer of a man, has lived his life so far with as many women as he pleased and without a hitch, until one day, the heroine, gorgeous beyond human capacity, enters, painfully inviting and equally impermissible. He tries to woo her, oblivious that she is in search for love, and that his promiscuity is what is prohibiting her from becoming his.

The drama, while thrilling, was certainly not the only thing Harune was hooked on. The sex was undeniably hot and steamy, and Harune could hardly take her mind off her own body as she read the passionate exchanges between the protagonists. She hadn't even realized when she had slipped her hand down her pants, swirling her fingers and gently pumping them in and out the way Genma used to, her mind on how the tokubetsu jonin had loved to tease her to the brink of climax before fucking her like neither of them would ever see the light of day again. But as she read on, Genma slowly morphed into Kakashi, and before she knew it, every move _Icha Icha's_ hero made on his heroine, so did the silver-haired jonin to Harune in her mind.

"Fuck," she muttered under her breath, finally dropping the book and working both hands as her imaginary Kakashi repeatedly pounded deeply into her, pinning her wrists above her head and unsuccessfully biting back his moans as he nibbled on her ear.

Harune involuntarily let out a small moan as she finally climaxed, and she lay limply on her bed for a few minutes, blushing heavily and trying her best to rid her mind of the highly inappropriate visions of her best friend.

She turned her head to the side.

3:08 AM.

Harune made her way to the bathroom to wash up before she left.

Washing her face with cold water managed to get rid of her blush, but Harune couldn't help but wonder what Kakashi thought about when he read those books. How he could so easily whip out such provocative material in public without so much as batting an eyelash amazed the very imaginative young woman.

_Kuso, it's time to go. Get your shit together, Kamineko,_ Harune scolded herself, dousing her cheeks with another splash of cold water to wake herself up.

She threw on her winter gear and tied her boots before strapping her katana on her back and fitting her sealing scrolls into her small cross-body satchel.

Crossing her index and middle fingers of each hand perpendicularly, Harune hesitated for a brief moment, but quickly exiled any doubts from her mind.

"Kage bunshin no jutsu," she said firmly, and three identical clones appeared before her.

"I'm assuming you all know what to do, but just to be clear, I'm gonna tell you anyway," Harune started, eyeing each of her shadow clones, who listened intently.

"You guys are going to cover for me while I get the hell out of dodge. I really need only one of you, but just to be on the safe side, I'm counting on all three of you. Each of you will cover for me for a week, doing everything we normally do. When your respective week is up, you release and report back to me. If there is an emergency, release and let me know. But, no matter what, try to spare me at least a week, okay?" Harune explained, quickly covering all the bases of the mission she was assigning her cloned self. "Oh, and avoid Gai at all costs," she added, already sufficiently concerned for her clones' longevity. She didn't need the taijutsu user to go off and start icing them prematurely.

"Got it," the first one on the left saluted.

"We've got you," the middle one assured her with a wink.

"Don't get us killed out there," the last one warned, her eyes alit with mischief. Harune rolled her eyes.

"I am so annoying," she lamented. "Don't get me caught," she warned back.

"Hai!" her clones chorused, and without another word, Harune slipped unheard and unseen into the cold night.


	21. Konoha no Shinigami

Harune was no stranger to discomfort, though she wished she had decided to wait the winter out before she set off on her mission. The Kamineko sat herself down on a tree branch, nestling into the crevice made where the limb connected to the trunk. With a few quick hand seals, she created a small metal bowl and filled it with her flames, and held it in her lap.

It had only been about a week and a half since Harune had left Konoha, but she was still wandering within the Fire Country. She could have easily crossed out into the lands beyond the borders of her nation days ago, however Harune had realized that before she could start tracking down the criminal organization she had once been a part of, she would need to gather as much intel on them as possible, and her only connection to them as it stood was Orochimaru. Consequently, Harune had taken to breaking into and inspecting every last one of Orochimaru's hideouts within the Land of Fire. Though she was relatively sure that the majority of the rogue Sannin's laboratories set up in his home country had been all but forgotten on his part, she remained ever-vigilant in her thorough searches of the labs she had once called home.

There was only one hideout left to investigate, and according to Harune's mental map of Orochimaru's vast network of safehouses, it was less than half a day's travel northwest of her current position.

The former test subject stared into the dancing flames she held between her legs, shielding them from the harsh winds that threatened to extinguish her only (rather pitiful) heat source. Though she had managed to convince herself so far that it was best to save this hideout for last due to its proximity to the border, Harune knew deep down that she was in complete and utter denial.

In truth, she had been avoiding the lab, and while she had beat herself up every day that she procrastinated, Harune struggled to bring herself to face the very place she had suffered the first experiment at Orochimaru's hand: the implantation of her Byaku-Sharingan eye.

It was the first lab Orochimaru had taken his most prized possession. The experiment-crazy jutsu-coveting Sannin had wasted no time in expanding Harune's very evident potential to become one of his most capable vessels, and though he had only very recently taken to a new body, Orochimaru regarded the girl as a long term investment. The hard contempt in her eyes that fueled the ferocity in her fight was a quality he looked for in every one of his disciples, confident he could cultivate it to his own benefit.

As manipulative and cunning a man as he was, it was his misplaced trust in his own capacity to mould Harune's learned loathing of the world in which she lived that had led to the loss of his once most powerful assets.

The three years working under the exiled Sannin had very confusing for Harune. The stubborn kunoichi was, needless to say, less than easily influenced, however she sometimes found herself empathizing with Orochimaru. He too had suffered the tragic loss of his parents, and while he never spoke about it, Harune somehow knew that he felt guilty for not having been able to protect them. Still, it didn't excuse his maniacal and sadistic habit of tearing the world apart for his own gain.

And even though she _knew_ that Orochimaru's activities were less than kosher, Harune went along with it. Each poke, each prod, every needle, and every scalpel held the promise to make her stronger. And the stronger she grew, the closer she came to crushing the twisted snake of a man. Such a goal, however, came with a heavy price, and conceding to Orochimaru's will meant that Harune was forced to turn a blind eye to the havoc he wreaked, burning whole villages to the ground, kidnapping children from their families, torturing innocent people.

While he used her ability to absorb and assimilate the chakra, natures, and jutsus of anyone she came into contact with to turn her into an indestructible weapon, Orochimaru had never once questioned her complete compliance, believing that, although it had taken quite the battle to recruit her, his young subordinate shared his ambitions.

Harune shuddered, not because of the sudden rush of cold wind that cut right through her body, but because she knew that Orochimaru hadn't been completely off the mark.

But she had changed, she told herself. Even back then, under the corrupt influence of her hopelessness, Harune had not completely submitted herself to the will of her former master. The Kamineko Chakra Assimilation Jutsu, though invaluable and seemingly impossible to counter, had one very crucial criterion to assure its complete effectiveness, and Harune had learned early on that Orochimaru was, so perfectly conveniently, unaware of it.

Developed with the intention of providing a sort of life after death for deceased Kamineko clan members, the Chakra Assimilation Jutsu was designed only to work on the dead. In her final battle alongside Takeo and Katsu, Harune had learned that it _was_ possible to perform the technique on a live host, but the side effects were devastating. Not only could the chakra and jutsus absorbed be used only once, but the user suffered severe consequences, nearly losing all control over their own chakra supply, and essentially threatening to kill them.

Having long since surrendered to her fate as Orochimaru's next host, Harune made it her own personal mission to turn herself into the ultimate weapon.

The process was simple; Orochimaru sought out the carriers of precious kekkei genkai, Harune hunted them down and collected their chakra. It didn't matter to the Sannin whether Harune's victims lived or died, nor did he consider it strange that the girl had never killed any of them at all; he simply attributed it to her Konohan upbringing—_You're too _soft_, Harune_— and all the while Harune was turning herself into a ticking time bomb.

The plan had been going perfectly, Harune thought, drowsiness beginning to tug on her consciousness. Then, with only 2 months to Orochimaru's possession of her own body, loaded with hundreds of different chakra masses and thousands of jutsus, and ultimately, his unwitting suicide, Harune ran into _him._

It was a late June morning, and he was washing his face in the stream by which his ANBU squadron had set up the night before.

Harune would have walked right on by, not daring to approach so many ANBU agents on her own; it didn't matter what village, Kamineko Harune knew she had earned herself a page in every country's Bingo Book, including her own. The _Riperu no Chakra_ and _Konoha no Shinigami_ were the names with which she had been dubbed by those who feared her strength.

Harune smirked, her eyes half-lidded as she dozed off into the memory of her retrieval from Orochimaru. The Chakra Reaper of the Leaf had always held a sense of pride in her nickname and the terror it instilled in her fellow shinobi, but even she knew better than to heedlessly engage an entire ANBU squadron in battle.

And so she almost did walk right past the man who had strayed a little ways off from his comrades, but there was no mistaking the damp silver locks of hair that hung over his face as he washed away the grit and dirt that clung to him from travelling for days on end.

"_Kakashi_," she breathed, involuntarily taking a step towards him. He tensed immediately, and as soon as her foot touched the ground, his hand had already withdrawn his katana and had it pointed to her throat.

The kunoichi didn't flinch, not even as she felt the sharp tip of the blade press against her skin, threatening to slice her open with the flick of a wrist if she even so much as breathed in the wrong way. She didn't know if it was pure shock or pure ecstasy that had paralyzed her, but it certainly wasn't fear. Fear had escaped her emotional spectrum eons ago. He could have killed her right then and there; she wouldn't have cared. Actually, she would have died happy.

"Kakashi," she repeated, the lump in her throat preventing her voice from coming out as more than a hoarse whisper. Green eyes crinkled with a bright smile in spite of the dark grey storm boring into them with a glare menacing enough to make a kage pee himself.

"Who the hell are you," Kakashi growled, irritated by the woman before him, who only smiled wider as he pressed his katana further onto her. Nothing got on his nerves more than not being taken seriously.

"Okay, that's enough there, Mophead," Harune said softly, putting up her hand to push the katana away. Kakashi's natural eye widened, and he snapped his Sharingan open to analyze the woman. He hadn't been called Mophead in years, not since—

"Harune?" he whispered, letting his hand drop to his side. The woman nodded excitedly, and Kakashi questioned how he hadn't immediately recognized the earthy green of her eyes and the shining black locks that hung off her shoulder in one long braid.

Slowly, ever so slowly, as though afraid any sudden movements would scare her away, Kakashi lifted his free arm, a wave of intense relief and happiness hitting him like a ton of bricks when his hand came into contact with Harune's shoulder. She was _real_, not some sort of dream his haunted brain had concocted whenever he had foolishly allowed his eyes to shut for a few hours of nightmarish sleep. Then, forgetting all the cautiousness of less than a moment ago, Kakashi pulled the woman into him, wrapping both arms around her and holding on as tightly as was humanly possible. There it was, that sweet and simultaneously metallic scent, sending him back in time to the too few years when everything in his life was okay, and his friends were still alive, and Harune was as clingy to his genin team as ever, and Minato was there to guide him out of the darkness in which he had grown up.

He buried his face into her hair, breathing her in and momentarily allowing himself to sink into the comforting sensation of which he was so deeply depraved.

Harune had to stop herself from flinching the moment Kakashi had pulled her towards him, reminding herself that this was her childhood best friend, not one of Orochimaru's twisted and perverted labrats. It had taken even more effort to figure out how to respond to Kakashi's very sudden display of affection. Needless to say, neither Orochimaru nor anyone affiliated with him were particularly caring people, and Harune had grown unaccustomed to being touched unless she was fighting on the battlefield or being sliced open during one of the Sannin's grotesque trials.

Kakashi was beginning to grow concerned about Harune's apparent unresponsiveness and was about to pull away when he finally felt Harune's arms wrap around his neck and her hands secure themselves in his hair.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Kakashi said in her ear, not daring to pull away from her for fear that she would slip away from him once more. Not only that, but if his ANBU teammates were to hear him talking, they would surely come out to see what was going on, cutting his reunion with Harune short, and he wasn't ready for that yet.

"Ano…" Harune started, unsure of how to explain what exactly she _was_ doing. She couldn't really tell an ANBU captain that she was out to steal on of Sasori of the Red Sand's puppets.

Harune's eyes shot wide open, and she nearly toppled off the tree limb she had nested herself on.

How could she have forgotten?!

Orochimaru had wanted Harune to retrieve one of Sasori's many lethal puppets, undoubtedly for one of his newest trials.

_"__If you can't take his chakra, then we'll take the next best thing,"_ the serpentine Sannin's voice hissed in Harune's memory. She had been utterly confused at the time as to what he had meant by her not being able to claim Sasori's chakra as her own; at the time she hadn't known that she had worked alongside the Puppet Master for an entire year, not since Orochimaru had suppressed her memories in a genjutsu.

But now, she knew. Inoichi had said he had found visions of a red-haired boy about her age floating in her splintered mind, and if it was true that Akatsuki operated in pairs, then Sasori of the Red Sand had to have been her partner.

Harune grimaced. She hated puppet users; the clickety-clackety sound of the wooden dolls' movements, the permanent, vacant expressions on their faces, and worst of all, the audacity of the shinobi who had the gall to hide themselves behind their nasty playthings. Harune couldn't stand cowards in battle, and to her, puppet masters were just that.

How she had endured working _alongside_ one, Harune couldn't imagine.

But it didn't matter, not when she finally had something on Akatsuki.

_Kuso_, she cursed herself, had she only remembered sooner. She was an _idiot_ for having let that simple piece of information slip her mind. So simple, and yet so important. She was a jonin, for Christ's sake, how could she have allowed herself to forget that this whole time, she had known about Akatsuki.

_Well,_ she sighed internally, repositioning herself against the tree trunk, _I might be six months late, but better late than never. At least I know I have to go back hunting for Sasori of the Red Sand. It's time to finish what I had started._

* * *

Kakashi glared into the fire crackling at the center of his little ANBU cell. All he wanted was to get back to Konoha as quickly as possible and apologize to Harune yet again for having been such a dick the last two months.

They would have made it back today, had their return not been stalled by a group of lowly bandits who clearly didn't know their asses from their hands.

He probably would have found the situation a little more amusing had he not had attaining Harune's forgiveness on his mind. He couldn't really blame the bandits for confusing his elite ANBU assassination unit for a mere genin team; with a child as young as Uchiha Itachi flying through the trees alongside Tenzo and Yugao, both still quite young themselves, and him, it was a relatively understandable error.

They hadn't killed their attackers; they were simple men and hardly a serious threat, but they had tied them up to a tree unconscious and under a numbing genjutsu that would disorient them for quite some time as punishment for delaying their return home. It would be at least another half a day's travel back.

Letting out a grunt, Kakashi lay himself down beside the fire, trying his best to remain numb to the bitter cold surrounding him.


	22. Hunted

_**Hello all my lovely readers! **_

_**So I just wanted to say thank you so much to all of you for your continued support, and a super big thanks to my special readers who left me reviews! I love those so much, it's amazing to hear what you think! I hope to get more of your feedback with this chapter! Love you all, kisses and hugs, now on with the show!**_

Kakashi woke up feeling slightly disoriented, though this wasn't uncommon. The countless missions he had under his belt had forced him to more often than not seek refuge in rather unconventional places, so it didn't take too long for him to regain control over his bearings. He sighed internally as he forced himself to rebury the memory of having woken up with Harune tucked into his body, the heat of the dying embers only inches away from him reminding him of the warmth that had radiated from her body that morning.

He would treasure that memory forever; Kakashi couldn't remember having experienced a more gratifying feeling than he had that day. Waking up with someone had happened all of three times in his short life, and two of them were just ugly reminders of his loss of self-control over his loneliness and pure lust. He remembered having felt ashamed those times, but with Harune, though he had felt raw from the confessions of the previous night, Harune's complete trust in him and the vulnerability she had exposed to him made him feel grateful, and most of all, _loved_. Harune had refused to admit it to him, but the Kamineko was a woman of actions, and though she verbally denied any sort of feelings she might feel for her best friend, that day, she would not stop loving him through her actions.

Kakashi sat himself up and looked around at him teammates. Yugao and Tenzo were still asleep, but Itachi was up and about. Kakashi didn't know where he went off to, though he assumed his youngest subordinate had gone off to wash up. Rolling up his sleeping bag and shoving it into his pack, Kakashi put out the embers of the dying fire and woke the 15 year olds up.

"Ugh, what time is it?" Tenzo grumbled drowsily, still half asleep. Yugao, however, sprung to her feet immediately and already had her equipment packed before Tenzo could even prop himself up on his elbow.

"Time to go," Kakashi said in his usual clipped tone. With a single 'hai', Tenzo seemed to wake up instantly, and he packed up as quickly as Yugao had.

"Where's Itachi-kun?" the violet-haired kunoichi asked. Opening his mouth to answer, Kakashi was interrupted by a sudden shout.

"Goukakyou no Jutsu!" Itachi's voice cried out in the distance, and immediately his three comrades dropped what they were doing to rush to his aid.

They found him and three other shinobi in a clearing five minutes later. Kakashi reflexively lifted his hitai-ate from his Sharingan and analyzed the scene within seconds.

"Itachi!" he called out to the Uchiha, attracting his attention along with the enemy nins'.

All at once, Kakashi swelled with a burning rage and the familiar dark violence that his years of service in ANBU had fostered within him came crashing through his veins.

They were Sound ninja.

"Ano, isn't that the one we want?" one of them said when they noticed Kakashi. He had messy auburn hair, kept out of his face only by the Otogakure hitai-ate on his forehead. He looked like a normal teenage boy, but his eyes told otherwise.

Where they should have been white, black matter encircled the red of his irises. Kakashi scanned his teammate; the same blackness surrounded his pale blue eyes, blond hair tied back into a samurai-style bun. The third, Kakashi saw, hung back behind the others. His eyes were normal, but his skin was a deathly white to match his long hair. Kakashi frowned internally; he was easily younger than even Itachi, and he looked so out of place in such a dangerous environment. Kakashi had to remind himself that this was undoubtedly a battle strategy; he remembered how he had been used as a vicious weapon as a child, using his youth as a perfect disguise to gain the trust of enemy shinobi and kill them quickly and silently. As such, he made a mental note to pay special attention to the boy in the back.

The Sharingan wielder shifted his gaze back to the two enemy nin. He could have sworn he had seen their faces before.

Then he saw it.

They were the faces of the former Team Kushina: Orokone Katsu and Isamu Takeo.

Before he could think twice, Kakashi rushed forward, placing himself directly between them and Itachi, who looked desperately worn out. Kakashi wondered how long he had been fighting before the rest of his team had found him.

"You're in Fire Country territory. Turn aroud and leave before things get nasty," Kakashi growled menacingly. He was exhausted from his mission, and he was sure his team was equally burnt. The last thing they needed right now was an uncalled for battle with Sound ninja.

Takeo smirked. "No can do, Kakashi-san," he mock apologized. "We need Harune."

Kakashi's eyes went ablaze at the Kamineko's name. Tenzo and Yugao darted into the scene, standing on either side of their captain and shielding the beat-up Itachi with their bodies.

"She's not here, Takeo," Katsu stated. "You said she'd be here," he added, unimpressed.

"But he knows where she is," Takeo assured him, not daring lift his gaze from the Copy-Nin. "Kakashi-san, we need Harune," he repeated.

"Like hell you do," the Hatake snarled. His voice was low, but there was no mistaking the aggressive, threatening tone in it as he spoke. These weren't Harune's former teammates anymore, they were just as bad as Orochimaru's henchmen, and Kakashi had no intention of sacrificing any one of his comrades to them, let alone Harune. "Now get the fuck out of here before I make sure that you never set foot here ever again," he spat.

"Troublesome, as always," Takeo drawled, and Kakashi noticed black, swirl-like markings creep up on his skin and wrap around his entire body. Flame-like markings did the same on Katsu immediately thereafter, and Kakashi's Sharingan could see the sudden mass of dark chakra that had surged through their bodies. He sensed Yugao and Tenzo tense beside him, and he himself unsheathed his katana and prepared his weary body to fight.

Takeo and Katsu were no fools, though; they were experienced jonin, and knew exactly how to fight and who not to fight; they would team up against the infamously strong Sharingan no Kakashi later. Takeo engaged Tenzo and Katsu picked off Yugao, leaving Kakashi to fight against the child.

But when the ghostly pale child made no move to fight and simply looked scared out of his wits, Kakashi decided to ignore him and bit down on his thumb.

"Kuchiyose no jutsu!" he said, slamming his palm down on the frozen turf beneath him. In a puff of smoke, Pakkun appeared. Sensing the danger immediately, he loyally awaited orders from his alpha.

"Go to Konoha. Request backup. And warn the Sandaime that the Sound is after Harune," Kakashi commanded quickly and in a hushed voice. With a nod, Pakkun disappeared in another cloud of smoke to Konoha.

* * *

"There's really not much to report this week, Sandaime-sama," Harune's second clone said dismally, thinking back to the utterly boring week she'd spent at the Intelligence Division. How the original dealt with such mind-numbing crap _all the damn time_ was beyond the scope of her understanding. As she handed the Hokage the scroll that summarized the week's activities, there was an urgent scratching on the office door. Eyebrows raised, Harune silently awaited Hiruzen's go ahead to welcome the unexpected visitor, only opening the door when the old man nodded, pipe hanging from the corner of his mouth.

Pakkun was already perched atop the Hokage's rather cluttered desk before Harune had even had the chance to fully open the door.

"Hokage-sama! Pardon me for barging in so unexpectedly, but there's an emergency," he said in his gruff pug voice. "Kakashi's team has been ambushed by Sound nin. They're looking for Harune." At this last, the ninken turned to look solemnly as the girl. "We don't have much time."

Hiruzen rubbed his hand over his tired face, aged by years of stress of having served as the village's hokage for the majority of his life.

"Where are they?" he asked.

"About 80 kilometres northeast of here," Pakkun answered.

"Kuso, you're not gonna have enough time to form a team, Hokage-sama," Harune said. "Let me go ahead with Pakkun, and send a team out after us once you've got one together."

Hiruzen shot a dark look at Harune.

"They're after you, Harune. Just as I feared. I'm not allowing you to play straight into Orochimaru's hands!" he said, voice commanding and raised.

"That's too bad, Hokage-sama, but I'm not gonna sit here with my thumb up my ass while Kakashi and his team get killed off _because of me_!" Harune argued, her tone defiant.

"80 clicks northeast?" she confirmed with Pakkun, clearly indifferent to the Sandaime's obvious glare of disapproval. The pug nodded, appreciative of Harune's willingness to risk herself to save his alpha, though certain his siding with the rebellious ex-kunoichi would lead to consequences later on.

Sliding her thumb against her razor-sharp fang, Harune's hands weaved the signs of the Summoning Jutsu, and her large black panther appeared the moment her palm came into contact with the office floor. Kuroda stared questioningly at the clone who had summoned her, her eyes asking where the real Harune was. The clone ignored this.

"Stay here and lead the team out to us when they're ready, okay?" she said instead, and Kuroda nodded. She'd have a word with the original later, when this was through.

"Pakkun, let's go," Harune said, and ran out, leaving Kuroda and a very displeased Hokage behind.

They were already a few kilometres out of Konoha before Harune halted, forcing a very confused Pakkun to drag his feet and stop as well.

"What?" the pug asked, sniffing around to see if his human companion had noticed anything incoming.

"I'm surprised you haven't noticed, Pakkun," Harune said quickly, not daring waste too much time talking. "I'm a clone. The original left the village days ago. I have to release and let her know what happened; she's much closer to Kakashi-kun than we are. You've done your job, I'm sure I'm safe in saying that you can go back home now."

Pakkun stared at the clone in disbelief. Now that she had mentioned it, she did smell a little off from the Harune he had come to know and love. But, as hard pressed to get help to Kakashi and his team, he simply nodded, and disappeared alongside the clone.

* * *

Harune was trudging her way through the deep snow towards Orochimaru's last hideout in the Land of Fire when she was stopped by the sudden flood of information and emotions that rushed through her frozen body. It took mere seconds for her to process it all, and the renegade kunoichi was already flying through the barren trees before she even knew where exactly she was going and what exactly she was up against. All she needed to start moving was feeling that Kakashi was in trouble. The rest of the intel— who she would be killing to protect her best friend and his comrades— would come later. 80 clicks northeast of Konoha— Harune was only about 6 kilometres off from them. With the activation of her Byaku-Sharingan eyes, she could already see the seven chakra masses darting this way and that as they battled. Now that she could see where exactly she was headed, Harune came to a full stop, and her hands immediately pieced together the signs required of the Shunshin no Jutsu, and she felt her body rush forward into the battle scene.

"KUSO!" she cried out as she whipped her katana from their sheaths and slammed her opponent down the instant the body flicker technique had lifted. She could see Kakashi land on the ground behind her, coming down after having been saved from Takeo's impending blow.

"Harune!" the jonin shouted, horribly confused and unsure what to make of the suspended kunoichi's sudden appearance. His cry attracted the attention of everyone around them, but Harune would not allow herself to be distracted by the captain. Instead, she darted in between her second opponent and Yugao, who was collapsed on the ground and defenseless against the Sound nin's final attack.

"You want me, here I am!" Harune hissed, blocking the strike and kicking the enemy back violently. Only for a moment did she pause to scan her surroundings; both Tenzo and Itachi had been beaten senseless and were lying just as vulnerable as Yugao, and Kakashi was clutching onto a tree, desperately fighting to stay standing upright.

Harune was immediately sent back in time to the last battle she had fought as a member of Team Kushina in Sunagakure; the scene was identical to when her team had been beaten down to practically nothing and she had nearly killed herself in an effort to complete the mission. All she could see in Kakashi's Team Rō were the lifeless bodies of Takeo and Katsu, and she almost screamed when she turned to face her opponents and actually came face to face with her deceased comrades.

"Haru-chan, it's been a while," Takeo smiled malevolently, as he and Katsu quickly recovered from the kunoichi's counter-attacks. "We missed you."


	23. The Second Stage

_**Hello everyone! **_

_**So I finally got around to this chapter, I was having such a hard time writing it; curse you, Writer's Block! Anyhow, please, as always, review, let me know what you think, I always love to hear from you! *kisses and hugs***_

* * *

The cold December air was thick with tension, and Kakashi felt as though time had stopped as he watched the staredown between the members of the disbanded Team Kushina.

Harune stood rigid, fighting desperately to stay calm.

_Put your emotions aside, pack them away in the corner they belong, become the complete, perfect, shinobi,_ her inner voice coaxed, but no matter how hard Harune tried to push her lethal emotions away and protect her better judgement, she couldn't.

Not with her team standing before her.

_Her _team. Takeo and Katsu, her boys, two men she had come to love as though they were her own brothers.

She wanted to move; to regain control over her paralyzed body, but the blood in her veins had frozen solid. Her hands tightened their grip on her bloodied katana until her knuckles turned white.

"Takeo, Katsu," she said, taken aback by the steadiness in her voice. It seemed to have come from somewhere else, a source separate from her body, and she questioned whether or not she had even said it at all until the oldest of the dissolved Team 11 opened his mouth in response.

"Harune, we need you back. Orochimaru-sama needs you back," the deceased jonin implored.

"He even raised us up to find you," Katsu added.

Harune closed her eyes, the realization of it all hitting her like a ton of bricks. It was the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu. She remembered the first time Orochimaru had tried to bribe her into forming a team with the resurrection of her most beloved comrades. The hard-headed kunoichi had refused the offer many times, but finally succumbed to the Sannin's wishes and assembled an elite assassination cell, acting as captain and leading three of his top experiments. What became of them after her desertion of Otogakure, Harune didn't want to imagine.

"The dead are meant to stay with the dead," the Kamineko quoted herself from all those years ago, repeating what she had said every time Orochimaru would offer her her old team anew.

Reopening her eyes, Harune resheathed her katana and rolled up her right sleeve, exposing the two black kanji— "light" and "blood"— and lifted her arm so they could see them imprinted on the smooth skin of her inner forearm.

"This is where you two belong now. What Orochimaru did, it's unnatural," she said, struggling to block the memory of Team Kushina's demise from her tortured mind.

"Those are just silly chakra seals. We're the real deal, Haru-chan," Katsu said. "Orochimaru-sama gave us a new life!"

Had his skin not looked so papery thin and his eyes not reflected the black hole of the deceased, Harune would have actually believed that the boy talking to her was the Katsu she had loved.

"Harune, if you don't come with us, we're going to have to fight you," Takeo beseeched the girl to rethink her ultimatum. His demeanor had changed; seeing Harune had seemed to soften the bloodlust with which he had so readily engaged Kakashi's Team Rō.

Kakashi watched the exchange intently, all sense of composure long forgotten and the tree he was clutching to for support paying the price of his growing rage. Anyone who threatened Harune earned themselves a well-deserved place in Kakashi's private Bingo Book, and the ANBU Hound was chomping at the bit to attack, even if Harune seemed less than willing herself. Damn it, he'd fight on her behalf. He would do everything, and literally fucking _anything_, to keep her safe from Orochimaru.

Harune had suffered enough.

Every inch of Kakashi's body screamed to stop, to just surrender and collapse onto the ground; he had less than no chakra left to fight and his body was going numb, but he had vowed to protect Harune at all costs, and may the Gods help anyone dumb enough to try and take her away from him.

He wouldn't let that happen.

Not this time.

With the miserable amount of energy Kakashi had left, he dragged his feet to where Harune stood, placing himself between her and her old teammates.

"Hell will have to freeze the fuck over before you lay a goddamn hand on Harune," Kakashi spat in a last ditch attempt to ward off the enemy nin, but before he could continue, he felt Harune's hand on his shoulder.

Body tense and expression as unreadable as ever, the Kaminkeo kept her gaze locked on the Sound nin as she spoke.

"Kashi-kun, step back. This is my fight. You've done enough," she said quietly, but firmly. The ANBU captain refused to move, but in his weakened state he couldn't do much against the strong hold she had on him, forcing his exhausted body out of the way.

"Harune—" he protested, but was cut off by the searing pain originating from where the kunoichi still held her grip.

"Your chakra is too low," she explained simply, answering his unspoken question, and Byaku-Sharingan eyes forever fixed on her former comrades. Kakashi turned his head to look down at his shoulder, where he saw dark violet chakra, _Harune's chakra_, flow into his own system, instantly revitalizing him, but not nearly enough to get him into fighting condition. Harune wasn't intending to let him fight alongside her; she was merely keeping him from dying.

"I'm not going back, Takeo, Katsu," she finally addressed her opponents, releasing Kakashi.

"Then you leave us no choice," Takeo said solemnly, his body transforming the moment the words left his mouth. Kakashi watched in shock and horror as the rogue jonins' skin turned into a sickening greyish colour; Takeo's blond hair turning blue to match his eyes and Katsu's changing to a fiery red. Kakashi didn't even need Obito's Sharingan to see and feel the massive burst of sinister chakra explode from them, and recognized their transformations immediately as the Curse Mark's second stage, already having seen Harune go through it, though only partially.

Kakashi remained deadly still, waiting for the air to become even denser with her own Second Stage Chakra, but it didn't come. Instead, ribbons of the same dark violet chakra that Harune had fed into his system glowed as they wrapped around her body and shone through her winter uniform. It was fierce, and its warm aura fought viciously against the weight of the ominous power exuding from Takeo and Katsu.

"I guess not," Harune replied, her tone indifferent, but Kakashi was willing to bet her powerful eyes displayed every last bit of turmoil he knew was twisting knots within her.

And with that, all hell broke loose. The clash of metal on metal as the three chakra-drunk jonin battled rang through the otherwise silent forest; Takeo and Katsu aiming for points that would do nothing more than cripple Harune as per their orders to retrieve her _alive_, but Harune's katana going straight for the kill.

It wasn't long before Takeo and Katsu decided that their bukijutsu skills were shamefully outmatched by Harune's, and they quickly pulled back before resuming their assault with ninjutsu.

"Light Release: Thousand Torches Technique!" Katsu roared, as, true to its name, thousands of blazing bursts of light shot incessantly at Harune, who did her best to dodge the attack as she weaved a series of hand signs Kakashi's Sharingan didn't recognize.

"Harune!" Kakashi shouted, Obito's eye catching one of Katsu's attacks aimed perfectly for the kunoichi who seemed to halt mid-air, but the enormous mass of light didn't reach its target. Instead, in a blinding flash, Katsu's flare rebounded on a massive shield of titanium, flying through the air straight back towards its user and his partner. Kakashi tried to keep an eye on the entire scene, but his Sharingan involuntarily focused on Harune, and he looked on in bewilderment as the shield that seemed to have materialized out of nowhere morphed into the biggest shuriken he had ever seen, shadowing the Light user's technique and blasting him back for miles into the frozen forest.

"That's quite an interesting technique you've got there," Takeo's voice remarked as he landed in sync with Harune, he on the ground, Harune up in the trees.

"And there's plenty more where it came from," she shot back, hands fabricating signs so quickly even Kakashi was having difficulty keeping up. "Kinton: Four Pillar Prison!" she cried, and Takeo found himself surrounded by four large columns. Not allowing him even an instant to react, Harune leaped forward, the seals of Kakashi's own Chidori formed by mere muscle memory until her right hand was overflowing with black lightning. He couldn't hear anything over the deafening screech of his signature jutsu, but Kakashi was certain he could see the words _I'm sorry_ fall from Harune's lips as her hand latched onto the top of one of her pillars, channelling the lightning into the metal and converging from all four bars onto Takeo. Kakashi choked slightly as the air filled with the stench of charred flesh, the glare of the attack blinding him even through his shut eyelids.

"Kuso!" Harune's scream caused Kakashi to snap his eyes back open, and he howled with fury when he found her being strangled by Katsu, though as much as he wanted to jump in and beat the living shit out of the dead man, his body was past the point of exhaustion; he couldn't lift himself off the tree against which he had been thrown back by the magnitude of Harune's jutsus.

Harune's eyes were rolling back in her head as she savagely wrestled against Katsu's iron grip; she kicked, writhed, and even sent electric pulses through him in a desperate attempt to make him release her, but her efforts were fruitless. Her movements slowed from vicious, to feeble, to barely even noticeable, until finally Takeo's commanding voice thundered over her choked protests.

"Katsu! Orochimaru-sama needs her _alive_, you fucking idiot!" he reprimanded, and Kakashi felt the knot in his chest release as Harune slumped down to the ground, choking helplessly at Katsu's feet.

_MOVE, DAMN IT! _the ANBU Hound bellowed within Kakashi, and, ignoring his body's objections, Kakashi clambered through the snow towards Harune, only to be kicked ruthlessly away by the blue-haired demon.

"Don't push your luck, Kakashi-san. We'll let you and your team—" he jerked his head in the direction of the unconscious bodies of Tenzo, Yugao, and Itachi, "—live, as long as you're a good boy and stay," he warned, speaking as though he was giving orders to a dog.

"Bite me," Kakashi snarled, crawling back towards Harune, who was lying barely conscious in the snow. He didn't get very far though, before Takeo hauled him up by his hair and glared at him.

"I said, _stay_," he hissed, and knocked him in the jaw.

"Takeo, we should get Harune to Orochimaru-sama before she regains consciousness," Katsu reminded his partner, watching him beat the silver-haired jonin without reserve.

"Just give me a second. I don't want this annoying piece of shit making this more difficult than it needs to be," Takeo said, whipping Kakashi down to the ground. "Hidden Art: Frozen Blood Technique."

Kakashi's body arched violently as the blood in his veins slowly solidified, one of Takeo's multiple hiden jutsu manipulating the water in his blood and forcing his circulatory system to come to a full stop.

_Kakashi…_ Harune thought, his screams of agony ringing through her ears and bringing her slowly out of the comforting embrace of unconsciousness. _Kakashi…_ She needed to reach out to him, to help him, to save him from her mistakes. This was her fault; Takeo and Katsu were after her, and she'd be damned if she let anyone else suffer on her behalf. She never should have approached him those six months ago; she should have just walked right on by. She should have stayed with Orochimaru until the end. She could have killed him had she just stayed, waited, and let him possess her. She could have ended it all had she just not been so damn _weak_.

_Kakashi, I'm so sorry. Please, forgive me._

Focused on the ANBU captain writhing in pain as his blood froze over, Takeo and Katsu didn't notice the winged demon of a woman rise behind them, the chakra of hundreds of men and women blazing as it enveloped her transformed body, and hair white as the snow blanketing the forest billowing in the wind behind her.

One swipe of the sharp tail that had sprouted in her demonic form knocked the enemy nin off their feet, and with it she pressed their necks firmly against the wide trunk of a nearby tree.

"He underestimated me, sending you two here," Harune hissed. "Honestly, like some dead boys would be able to capture _me_." One taloned finger rested on each of the pinned ninjas' foreheads. "How could I have forgotten, there's really only one way to counter the Edo Tensei Jutsu, that is, if the summoner is nowhere to be found," she continued. "I've got to take out those nasty little tags from your heads before I kill you."

Kakashi, recovering after having been released from Takeo's lethal jutsu, rolled onto his stomach to look at Harune. The original, bright chakra he had felt radiating from her was long gone, having been extinguished by the disgustingly malicious aura of the Curse Mark. Whoever it was intent on executing Takeo and Katsu, it wasn't Kamineko Harune. She had been devoured by the darkness of the Mark, and it was all Kakashi could do to meekly watch as she plunged her claws into their heads and tore out the talismans from their skulls.

"Metal Release: Diverging Senbon Strike," the she-demon said as she let the bloodied talismans float to the ground, and the nauseating sound of skin and muscle tearing filled the air as thousands of metal needles emerged from within the freed corpses of her former teammates.

As quickly as it had taken over, Harune's Curse Mark receded once more, and she sank down to the ground with the impaled bodies of Takeo and Katsu, her body still glowing with the flash flood of chakra ripping through her system.

Having regained minimal control over his body, Kakashi dragged himself forward, tears flowing freely from his eyes and praying that his best friend was alive. He felt he'd be pushing his luck if he prayed that Harune would be so much as even _okay_, so he settled for alive. As long as she had survived this, he could work on helping her come back to okay later. He had almost made it within arm's reach of her before he was cut off by the boy from earlier. Kakashi had completely forgotten about the ghostly white child amidst the chaos of Team Kushina's battle, and he halted, utterly unsure of what to expect from him.

Placing a scroll on the bloody snow and laying a hand on the seal painted onto the paper, the boy looked at Kakashi with piercing blue-green eyes before opening his mouth to speak.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu," he said calmly, and in a puff of smoke, Orochimaru appeared beside him.

"Che, you should have called on me earlier, Kimimaro-kun," the Sannin drawled, scanning the wreckage caused by the battle. Not bothering to give Kakashi a second glance, he walked over to Harune and slung her comatose body over his shoulder. "Oh well, I suppose the Living Corpse Reincarnation will be easier to perform with her like this," he shrugged. Kakashi felt his rage consume him again, this time, with a vengeance.

"Get the _fuck_ away from her, you slimy son of a bitch!" he roared, only to have his head stepped on and face pushed into the snow by the S-class criminal.

"Gomen, Kakashi-kun, but Harune is _mine_, do you understand?" he said coolly. "Kimimaro-kun, let's go."

_Not this time. You've fucked with Harune for long enough. You don't get to have her again,_ Kakashi thought, and his hands quickly formed the seals required of the Body Replacement Technique. It was so basic of a jutsu that normally he wouldn't have had to sign it, but his body was much too weak and his chakra much too low; it couldn't be helped. Luckily for him, neither Orochimaru nor the boy named Kimimaro took notice, and as soon as the criminal pair shunshined off, so did Kakashi, having replaced his body with Harune's, leaving her lying in the snow and praying that she would somehow make it back to Konoha safely.


	24. Awakening

_**Hello again, all you lovely people!**_

_**So I got reviews, and reviews make me a happy writer! And a happy writer, well, she writes more! So here's your chapter, lovelies! I'll admit, it's kind of long and boring, but I promise, every last bit of it is necessary. I wouldn't have included it if it wasn't! **_

_**As always, review, review, review! I swear the little updates filling my inbox make me happier than a Kakashi who just got a new volume of Icha Icha. *hehe* ;) **_

* * *

"NANI?!" Orochimaru's enraged outburst echoed through the barren halls of his hideout as he dropped Kakashi onto the dirt floor.

"Surprise," Kakashi smirked, but couldn't he couldn't stop the groan escaping from his lips as he weakly sat himself up to look at the S-rank criminal.

"You're fucking kidding me," Orochimaru hissed, roughly pulling Kakashi up and slamming him against the concrete wall of his lair. "How the hell did you manage to—"

"Sometimes, all you need is a jutsu as simple as the Body Replacement Technique," Kakashi chuckled, glaring the biggest 'fuck you' he could muster up at the rogue Sannin. He knew there was no fighting back in his condition; he was probably going to die down here. But Kakashi didn't care; if it meant keeping Harune safe from Orochimaru, he would greet Death with open arms.

Orochimaru lifted his arm to strike, and Kakashi closed his eyes as he braced for the impact, but it didn't come. Instead, with a yelp of pain, Orochimaru released Kakashi and fell to his knees, coughing violently.

"Orochimaru-sama!" the boy named Kimimaro cried out, rushing to his side with a glass of water that seemed to have materialized out of thin air.

Realizing that this was most likely going to be his best and only shot at escape, Kakashi kicked Orochimaru across the jaw as forcefully as he could before running out into the maze of halls as quickly as his fatigued body would take him. He had hardly made it out of the room, however, before he felt the sharp pain of three kunai burying themselves into his back, knocking him forward and out of consciousness.

* * *

Tenzo couldn't remember much of what had happened post Team Rō's official mission, save that they had been attacked by Sound nin. When he had been less than gently awoken by Namiashi Raido, the 15 year old had to shamefully apologize for being unable to answer any of his questions as to what had happened, and, more importantly, where Kakashi was. The same went for Yugao and Itachi, whom the mokuton user learned had also been knocked out during the sudden battle. However, when the backup team had found Harune lying comatose in the blood-spattered snow, Tenzo watched in utter confusion as both Maito Gai and Shiranui Genma refused to allow Raido to wake her and fervently guarded her from the medic-nin, who insisted that she tend to the kunoichi's wounds.

Naturally, Tenzo thought their behavior to be rather strange, and even more so when he inquired as to why Harune was being given "special treatment", so to speak. Instead of calmly explaining himself, as he normally would have, Genma rather uncharacteristically snapped at the ANBU operative, scolding him for asking stupid questions. In truth, Tenzo slightly envied the young woman who was being allowed to rest as Genma carried her the whole way back to Konoha, though he concluded that there _had_ to have been a good reason for it; the perceptive teenager hadn't missed the deep concern etched on Genma's face.

When he decided that he wouldn't be receiving any explanations from the bodyguard, Tenzo shifted his efforts to Gai, though he quickly determined that the eccentric jonin was just as preoccupied with the well-being of the Kamineko and wouldn't be of much help either. Having only his own (very limited) knowledge of the situation at hand, Tenzo concluded that the unconscious woman was at the center of attention because of her past affiliation with the Sound; however he still couldn't quite understand how it was that even Maito Gai and Shiranui Genma seemed as protective and watchful as Kakashi had always been.

And where the _hell_ did Kakashi go off to?

When they finally reached Konoha, Tenzo and his ANBU comrades parted ways with the backup team temporarily while they went off to report to the Sandaime and Harune was taken to the hospital.

The official mission having been a success, the Sandaime was much more inquisitive about the Sound ambush, and, once again, the three remaining members of Team Rō had to apologize for their lack of intel. The Hokage's frustration was painfully obvious as he sent his subordinates off to seek proper medical care at the hospital, leaving Tenzo feeling thoroughly inadequate and loaded with more questions than he believed anyone could answer, except perhaps Harune or Kakashi.

But with his senpai gone completely AWOL and Harune out cold, Tenzo knew he wouldn't be getting any answers any time soon.

So for three days the mokuton user anxiously paced along the halls of the hospital, passing by the Kamineko's room every so often to see if she had yet awoken.

Genma and Gai continued to guard Harune from the meddling hands of any medical staff, taking shifts in staying by her side so as to prevent any particularly sneaky medics from trying to tend to the unconscious woman.

Only on the fourth day did Tenzo gather up enough courage to ask Genma why they so adamantly protected Harune— wouldn't it be more beneficial if you let the medics, you know, _do their job?_— but the answer he received was not at all what he had been expecting.

"Harune's chakra system is developed a little differently from ours," the bodyguard explained, chewing nervously on his signature senbon. "She's from the Kamineko clan, and since they already have a disgustingly large surplus of chakra, trying to heal them with conventional methods would only kill her quicker."

Tenzo remained silent, Genma's answer only raising more questions than it answered.

"The medics are most likely unaware of that because the Kamineko clan is extinct. Harune is the last of her kind," the senbon wielder continued, understanding the teenager's blank expression. Only afterwards did he consider that he might have told him too much; as the Hokage's bodyguard, he sometimes took for granted the information with which he was entrusted. The Kamineko clan's history and their involvement with the Leaf was kept confidential, and for good reason, but Genma decided that as a member of ANBU and Kakashi's subordinate no less, the mokuton user could be trusted. Besides, he hadn't told him _everything_.

"What do you mean, 'kill her quicker'?" Tenzo demanded after a long pause. Genma sighed, pulling of his hitai-ate and wringing it in his hands.

"It's been four days," he said solemnly. "She usually recovers a hell of a lot faster than this." Then again, Genma was only working on the knowledge he had of the younger Harune. Any number of things could have happened to her during her time with Orochimaru that could have changed that.

Tenzo looked down; it was obvious that the tokubetsu jonin was doing his utmost to maintain a calm and unconcerned demeanor around him, but Tenzo could see the pain written clear as day on his face, and so he quickly nodded a goodbye before leaving to allow Genma some privacy.

It was on the seventh day that Tenzo heard a violent crash come from Harune's room.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN, 'HE WASN'T THERE'?!" the Kamineko's shriek echoed through the otherwise peaceful halls of the hospital's recovery wing. Tenzo ran down to the source of the commotion, halting when he found Harune pinning Gai to the wall, her body half-consumed by the black, geometric markings of her Curse Mark.

"HARUNE! CALM DOWN!" Genma's voice yelled from behind Tenzo as he rushed in and pried the girl off Gai, before Tenzo could act on his own part.

"Where is he?" Harune's powerful voice shrank to a whimper, looking up desperately at Genma, who now had her pinned to the wall. Her Curse Mark withdrawing once more, Genma hesitated before replying, not wanting to retrigger her temper.

"I don't know," he finally said, though reluctantly.

The tiny, anguished cry that escaped Harune's lips in response reminded Tenzo of a trapped animal, and he watched with pity as she clutched onto Genma's arm, dark green eyes widened with fear and grief as she became fully cognizant of the reality to which she had woken up.

"Haru-chan, you… you need to see the Sandaime," Gai said timidely, breaking the silence. "You're the only one who knows what happened."

Harune snapped her gaze from Genma, who had taken a step back to release her, to Gai.

"U-un," she said distractedly, as though she herself was trying to recall the attack. She moved to take a step forward, but her knees buckled, and she nearly collapsed. Genma quickly caught her before lifting her up and supporting her with an arm around her waist. The strength with which she had lashed out on Gai earlier had clearly vanished, and it was only then that the three men in the room realized how frail Harune had actually become; a week without food nor water had certainly taken its toll on Harune, her body currently running solely on adrenaline, and even that was depleting rapidly.

"There's no way you're walking up to the Hokage's office," Genma decided. "Gai, Tenzo, go get some food and water and meet us back at the Academy. I'm gonna take Haru there with me right now," he directed, and signed the seals of the Shunshin no Jutsu, both he and Harune disappearing in a puff of smoke and leaves.

* * *

"Genma, Harune," Hiruzen greeted his unexpected visitors the moment they appeared in his office.

"Kuso, Genma-kun, that is _not_ something I needed to go through," Harune muttered, holding the hand that wasn't clinging to the senbon wielder to her head, resisting the urge to vomit.

"S-sorry," the specialized jonin apologized sheepishly. He had been trying to help her by sparing her the trek from the hospital to the Academy, but too late he realized that walking might have been more merciful on her weakened body than re-materializing from one room to another.

"I see you've finally come to, Harune," Hiruzen remarked as the young woman recovered from the effects of Genma's Body Flickering.

"What did Gai mean, 'I'm the only one who knows what happened'?" Harune cut straight to the chase. She didn't dare believe that Kakashi was in fact missing, not until the Hokage confirmed it.

"Tenzo, Itachi, and Yugao were all knocked unconscious shortly after the Sound's attack, correct?" Hiruzen responded with another question, much to Harune's irritation.

"Well, isn't that what they told you?" she snapped. Genma glanced down at her, applying a slight bit of pressure against the hip where his supporting hand was resting in a silent warning to control her precarious temper.

"Yes, they did," Hiruzen sighed. When it became clear that Harune wouldn't continue until she was updated on how much he already knew, the tired Hokage opened his mouth to resume, only to be interrupted by Gai and Tenzo.

"Haru-chan! We have returned bearing food and drink. May it replenish and rejuvenate your youthful and lively spirit!" the Green Beast of the Leaf sang boisterously, followed by Tenzo, who carried in two bags, for a total of 7, takeout bowls of Ichiraku ramen.

"We weren't sure how hungry you'd be, but I hope this is enough for you, Harune-san, at least for the time being," the 15 year old said, volumes less enthusiastically than Gai, but caring nonetheless.

"Arigato, Tenzo-kun, Gai-kun," Harune smiled gratefully, her eyes softening the moment they shifted from the Hokage to them. She relieved Tenzo of the food, searching for a place in the office to settle down and eat. The scent of the ramen she loved oh so much was already wafting through the room, and Harune hadn't realized how hungry she was until she was salivating as much as Kakashi's ninken about to tuck in to a bloody steak.

"Ano, here," the mokuton user said hesitantly, clasping his palms together. A small table and stool to match grew out from the wooden planks on the floor before her, and Harune had to giggle even just a little at the way Tenzo sent an apologetic look to their startled Hokage. Not bothering to wait for the Sandaime's approval, Harune slipped out of Genma's grasp and plopped herself down on the stool, thanking Gai again as he placed 3 massive water bottles on the floor beside her.

"Itadakimasu!" she sang happily before digging in. The four men in the room watched with jaws dropped as she wolfed down the first six bowls without so much as a breath in between. Only when she cracked open the seventh steaming bowl did she pause, looking up at the Sandaime.

"You were saying?" she asked, prompting him to continue his briefing. Taking only a moment to recall where he had left off, Hiruzen sighed internally at what he knew was coming.

"We were on our way back to Konoha when the Sound attacked us. Kakashi-senpai seemed to know them; they were asking him where you were. Kakashi-senpai told them to get lost, but they were persistent and they engaged us in battle," Tenzo explained in the Hokage's stead. "They were strong," he added dismally.

"It was Isamu Takeo and Orokone Katsu," Harune said, nodding when Tenzo had mentioned that Kakashi had recognized their attackers. At this, Hiruzen's eyes widened.

"It can't be," he said slowly, awaiting the answer that would undoubtedly come from the Kamineko, who nodded again.

"The Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu," the last survivor of Team Kushina confirmed. "Orochimaru resurrected them to retrieve me; he was probably hoping his little mind games would work," she added with a sneer, and proceeded to relay a detailed account of the battle she had fought against her former teammates.

"So where the hell is Kakashi in all this?" Genma asked when she finished.

"They tried to kill him, so I went into the Second Stage and killed them. After that—" she trailed off, and everyone understood that that was the extent of her knowledge.

"Someone must have come to retrieve the bodies, then," Hiruzen concluded. "If all that was found were you and the three others, Orochimaru must have come back to clean up the evidence."

Harune clenched her fists.

"If Orochimaru had actually come to recover the bodies, then why the hell didn't he just take me too? That was the whole point anyway," she reminded him sharply.

"He must have taken Kakashi instead," Genma suggested. This last thought infuriated Harune beyond any logical reasoning, and she stood up, glaring daggers at the bodyguard.

"How does that make _any_ sense?! Why the _fuck_ would Orochimaru take Kakashi when I was lying fucking comatose on the ground?!" she argued, her voice raised.

"I'm just saying, it's a possibility," Genma replied, far too calmly for Harune's liking.

"It doesn't make any FUCKING sense!" she was shouting now, and when she whipped around to punch a hole clear through the office wall, Hiruzen saw that her Curse Mark was crawling across her skin freely; the seal she had placed on it destroyed when she had allowed herself to transform to the Second Stage.

"Haru-chan!" Gai gasped, pulling the kunoichi's fist out of the wall and turning her urgently to face him.

"It doesn't make any sense," she repeated, tears in her eyes threatening to spill down her cheeks and the lump in her throat rising against her will.

"Well, I know my Eternal Rival better than anyone else, and I think that Orochimaru had tried to go for you, but Kakashi simply just wouldn't let him. He's competitive like that," the taijutsu specialist said gently, finishing with a wink.

"We have to find him," Harune finally said, forcing the dark energy of the Mark back into the constraints of the tiny three-tomoe tattoo on her neck.

"And we will," Gai assured her with his signature billboard smile.

"If Orochimaru does have him, he won't kill him," Genma stated. Harune shifted over to look at him questioningly.

"As much as I hope you're right, you sound pretty sure of yourself," she said doubtfully. Genma shrugged.

"Orochimaru must know how you'd react if you found out that he has Kakashi. He's gonna use him as bait," he said as a matter-of-factly. Harune snapped her head to the Sandaime, who was already shaking his head before she even spoke.

"Where's Inoichi-sensei?" she asked, ignoring the Hokage's premature rejection of her plan.

"On a mission," Hiruzen replied.

"Of course he is," Harune hissed, not believing him for an instant, not since he had already lied to her about her sensei's whereabouts in an effort to keep her within the confines of the village.

"Harune, it's true," Genma stepped in, placing a hand on the kunoichi's shoulder. "He left the day we returned with you. He insisted that he stay and make sure you didn't wake up alone, but a mission is a mission."

He felt Harune relax slightly, and the tokubetsu jonin smiled internally, relieved and touched that the guarded and distrustful kunoichi so easily placed her faith in him, _over the Sandaime_.

"Harune, believe me, I want to get Kakashi back home as much as you do—" Hiruzen began, to which Harune snorted in contempt, "—but right now we have no leads. Our best bet is to wait for Inoichi to return; he might be able to sense Orochimaru out."

"And when is he coming back?" Harune pressed, with a look that just _dared_ the Hokage to try and lie to her again.

"He should be back in a couple of days," Hiruzen replied honestly, knowing that any answer other than _today_ would upset the kunoichi anyway. "Until then, sit tight. We don't have enough information to make a move," he ordered.

"Yeah, yeah," Harune waved her hand carelessly, her tone and expression dripping with _fuck you_, and she stalked out of the office.


	25. Reunion

_**New chapter yayy! I have been waiting forever to get to this part, you have no idea! I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Oh yeah, and hold on to your butts, it really only gets crazier from here! *evil cackles***_

_**Oh yes, special shoutouts for my lovelies TheAuthorHaru for being with me since the very beginning, cathyscloud9 for their constant and continued support as well as my good pal 'Guest' (don't know who you are but you rock!), vickienna for giving me advice on my bae Harune and finally, TheFanficBaka, for your most amazing reviews that make me smile like a total goof at my screen. Love you all!**_

_** Hugs, kisses, read and review my darlings! **_

* * *

Kakashi didn't make a sound, not even as the three kunai were wrenched out of his back, Orochimaru putting extra care into twisting them slowly as he yanked them out of his torn flesh. He had been trained to deal with situations like this; ANBU operatives were always more likely to get captured, and if tortured, they had to be prepared to die silent so as to protect their country.

"What did you think would happen if you took Harune's place?" the snake-resembling Sannin sneered, dropping the last kunai onto the dirt floor. Kakashi considered shooting some sort of sardonic one-liner back at him, but that would do nothing but make his life more miserable; being hung from the ceiling by shackles and chains on his wrists didn't really put in him the mood to be all that sharp with his comments anyway.

"Che, aren't you well-desiciplined," Orochimaru jeered, quickly losing interest in Kakashi's unresponsiveness. "I would always get a rise out of Harune; she's quite the interesting character," he reminisced.

"Don't you fucking _dare_ talk about Harune like she's some old friend of yours," Kakashi growled suddenly, rattling the chains on his wrists in fury.

"Oh, and now he speaks," Orochimaru cackled, slipping out from the darkness of the room and into the dim light shed by the single torch hanging up against the prison chamber. "She really is something to you, isn't she?" he noted, slithering up to Kakashi so that their faces were hardly an inch apart, snake eyes looking at him with an insatiable thirst for blood. "Well, it's not like the feeling isn't mutual; that little terror of a kunoichi wore that ratty red scarf everywhere she went—" Kakashi's eyes glared death at him, prompting Orochimaru to smirk, "—What, you think I didn't know where it came from or why she did? That thing stank like _dog_," he emphasized the last word, taunting the ninken summoner.

"So," Orochimaru continued when it was clear that Kakashi wasn't going to so easily lose his temper again, "I'm willing to bet little Haru-chan will tear the world upside-down just to find you, so lucky for you, I'm going to keep you alive, for now. Because I know that if she does find you here, dead, well, I won't have any leverage, will I?" he reasoned aloud. Kakashi just scowled.

"She's smarter than that," he snarled, to which Orochimaru freely laughed.

"She is," he agreed, "but she's not going to care. Harune is impulsive, and when she's angry, she's brash. We both know she'll be coming here for you. It's only a matter of time."

"You're wrong," Kakashi spat, denying his greatest fear. If Orochimaru was right, then Harune would be willingly putting herself at risk of becoming his next vessel, _all for his sake_. And if that were to happen, Kakashi would never be able to face Obito. Fuck, he'd dig out Obito's Sharingan just so he wouldn't have to witness how much of a _worthless fucking failure_ he had turned out to be.

"Ugh, enough of your stupidity," Orochimaru drawled, clearly annoyed now by his prisoner. "I was hoping to have a little more fun with you, but it turns out I'll just have to wait until the main act comes along," he hissed, and with a single finger pressed against his forehead, Kakashi was immediately swallowed by an unrelenting darkness.

* * *

He had lost count of the days.

Perpetual darkness.

That's all he knew right now. This was one of the quiet stages, where either Orochimaru had business to take care of or he had gotten bored of tormenting his captive with genjutsus. The snake-resembling Sannin wasn't a fan of "good old-fashioned" physical torture, as he had so eloquently referred to it; he was a man who preferred psychological warfare.

And psychological warfare he used.

It hadn't taken much poking around Kakashi's consciousness to find his weakest links, and Orochimaru was thrilled when he found that he wouldn't have to get his creative juices flowing too much to successfully make the ANBU captain suffer immensely.

Anyone who knew Kakashi at all would know that any mention of his past sensei and genin team would be enough to get a rise out of him, but any mention of Harune would _break_ him, and Orochimaru absolutely _loved _that.

From time to time Orochimaru would replay the nightmares of Obito and Rin that had haunted Kakashi since their deaths, but the defected Sannin took far more pleasure in implanting image of Harune herself being tortured and experimented on in Kakashi's persecuted mind than anything else.

Kakashi would be forced to watch helplessly from afar as Harune would be sliced, empoisoned, beaten, and manhandled by Orochimaru and his henchmen. Not all of what Kakashi believed he witnessed had happened, though the S-class criminal had no doubts that seeing what his best friend had actually suffered at his hand would most assuredly destroy his prisoner.

The worst scene that the malevolent convict had subjected Kakashi to was the time Harune had been branded by the Curse Mark. Orochimaru had let Kakashi see the whole thing; from the moment he had sunk his serpentine fangs into her neck to the moment she awoke from her excruciating coma, transformed into the winged demon of the Second Stage. Kakashi pulled viciously against the chains binding him to the ceiling by his wrists, his howls of unabated rage blending in the air with Harune's violent screams of agony as the chakra of the Mark ripped through her system like a thousand poison-tipped daggers. The image of the then 14 year old Kamineko writhed on the stone-cold floor of his prison cell for what felt like an eternity, and all Kakashi wanted to do was break free of his chains and take her into his arms, caressing her hair and rocking her until the pain subsided. Even more, Kakashi prayed to anyone who could hear him to take the pain away from Harune and let him bear it on her behalf. Only Orochimaru could hear his internal pleas, and he more than happily obliged, though instead of relieving the imaginary Harune of her suffering, the air was now filled with both the ninjas' cries, and it was music to Orochimaru's ears.

But right now, all was silent, and Kakashi wasn't sure whether he was conscious or not as he stared hopelessly down at the damp dirt floor beneath him, his body much too weak to even lift his head up as he heard the small footsteps of Kimimaro.

"Drink," the tiny boy commanded as he appeared below Kakashi's limp body with a canister of water hardly large enough to satisfy even Pakkun. Kakashi just hung there, defiantly refusing the water, but couldn't even bring himself to react to the sting of the needle piercing his forearm as the boy injected some sort of God-knows-what into him so as to keep him alive, even if just barely. Orochimaru had been adamant about keeping his prisoner alive as bait to draw Harune in. Having been one himself, Orochimaru knew that all Konoha shinobi were trained to kill themselves upon capture if they had absolutely no chance at escape. He made sure neither option was made available to Kakashi.

He _would_ get Harune.

* * *

There was absolutely no way in hell she was waiting. Even _if_ Genma was right, Harune knew Orochimaru better than even the Sandaime himself; a "couple of days" as the rogue Sannin's prisoner felt very well like an eternity in hell if he so desired, and usually, he did.

Harune could feel her body object to every move she made; apparently seven bowls of Ichiraku ramen, though delicious, weren't nearly enough to push her to a full recovery after a week-long coma, but the weary kunoichi wouldn't be able to rest easy until she knew Kakashi was back home safely anyway.

The Kamineko racked her brain for any possible alternatives to having her sensei sense out Kakashi. Being such a rare ability, Inoichi was the only sensor nin Harune knew, and he himself had been shocked when he discovered that his student possessed the potential to master such a coveted skill, much to her pride. The Yamanaka Clan Head had promised to teach her what she had always believed was one of the most useful skills a shinobi could have before she had undertaken the perilous task of infiltrating Otogakure, but he had never gotten the chance.

The Byakugan of the Hyuuga, Harune thought, was helpful, but nowhere near a worthy substitute of the sensing arts.

Harune hadn't the slightest clue as to how many shinobis' chakras she had stolen; there were hundreds of reserves branded onto her body that she had always kept so carefully concealed by chakra, but she had already begun removing the mask as she bounded across the village rooftops and into her apartment.

Hundreds of reserves, and only one was of a sensor. He had been one of her last, and Harune remembered having had to resist the greedy urge to kill him and make his ability hers permanently. She shuddered at the very Orochimaru-esk thought as she stripped her clothes off, searching her body for that one, precious cache. It was difficult to locate as her eyes quickly scanned that mess of scars and tattoos that marred her dark skin, but finally, she found it; the faded white marking of the kanji that read "feeling", practically blended into the large X-shaped patch of scar tissue raised on the kin under which her heart lay.

Harune snorted at the irony of such obvious symbolism, but prepared her body for the influx of unfamiliar chakra that she was about to release into her system as she focused on the mark.

"Kan: Release," she said steadily, carefully blending her own chakra with the chakra of the man her conscience was thankful for not having murdered.

The effect was sudden, and Harune almost keeled over from the onslaught of sensory stimulation.

All shinobi were trained to recognize and analyze chakra signatures to some degree, but the extent to which a sensor could feel these signatures and pinpoint their exact location was overpowering, and Harune's head hurt as she mapped out the presence of literally everyone in the village. Genma and Gai were still with the Sandaime, undoubtedly receiving orders to keep a close eye on her to assure that she wouldn't do anything rash.

Broadening her range, Harune first searched the entire Fire Country, cursing internally when she found nothing.

She winced as she forced herself to expand her range even further; the massive headache only worsening as she searched the neighbouring countries, both large and small.

Harune began to panic as she felt the reserve wane down to nearly nothing, fear enveloping her mind as she thought about what would happen if she _didn't_ find Kakashi.

Much to her relief, the shinobi instinct within her kicked into overdrive, vanquishing her rather pointless and unhelpful emotions and forcing her to focus on making the last bit of foreign chakra count.

Harune released the Assimilation Jutsu the second she found Orochimaru and Kakashi, not daring to use the alien chakra any longer than she needed to. She had to keep the side effects of the jutsu to a minimum if she wanted any hope of being able to rescue Kakashi.

Night had already fallen by the time Harune had prepared a new set of supplies to take with her, but the impatient kunoichi didn't dare wait for sunrise.

"Going off unauthorized _again_, Harune?" the worn voice of the Third Hokage held the brazen kunoichi back from leaping off into the intimidating darkness of the Fire Country's forests.

"I'm going to get you back one of the greatest damn shinobi Konoha has ever seen," was her response, keeping her back turned to him. She ignore his hint that he had already been aware of her first departure from Konoha a couple of weeks prior.

"Did you find anything while you were out there?" Hiruzen asked, coming out of the shadows of the village gate.

"Sasori of the Red Sand. He was my partner in Akatsuki. Not much else," Harune replied in a clipped tone. Hiruzen nodded, not that she could see.

"Well, I'm glad that you are beginning to remember. We'll continue the investigation when you and Kakashi return," he said. Harune whipped around, her breath trapped in her lungs as she studied the Hokage. She had been anticipating resistance, punishment, scolding, essentially _anything _but his cooperation, let alone his support.

"Don't die," the Sandaime said, with a warm and knowing smile. Quickly recovering from the shock of only a moment ago, Harune chuckled before flashing him a mischievous grin. Hiruzen only beamed wider; _this_ was the Kamineko Harune he knew.

"Don't worry, Sandaime-sama," the jonin kunoichi assured the old man, and disappeared.

Orochimaru had taken refuge in one of his much smaller, much more inaccessible hideouts in the overshadowed Land of Sun, a tiny country tucked between the lands of Fire and Lightning.

It was one that Harune had never been to before; she assumed it was relatively new, and although she knew that all of Orochimaru's bases were built on the same scheme, Harune remained ever-vigilant as she navigated the dark and eerily empty halls.

Harune soundlessly checked everywhere, the uneasiness in the pit of her stomach growing with the number of empty rooms she searched.

Finally, just as the Kamineko was really beginning to panic, she felt the faint pulse of Kakashi's chakra coming from the end of the last hall. Not bothering to remain wary of her surroundings, Harune sprinted down the corridor, busting the locked door down with one chakra-loaded kick.

Too late she noticed the faint tingle of chakra brush against her skin as she stepped into the room, prompting her to retreat almost instantly, but the kunoichi couldn't do anything to escape the barrier that now confined her.

She didn't let it faze her, though, and quickly resumed her search for Kakashi. She could still feel his chakra signature beating weakly through the damp air of the hideout, and, activating her Byaku-Sharingan, she followed the faded blue trail deeper into the shadows.

Finally, the trail thickened and grew more distinct, until Harune found him.

The sight was horrifying, even by shinobi standards, and had Harune not spent three years as Orochimaru's right hand, witnessing the conditions in which he kept his prisoners, she would have puked.

Coated in patches of dried blood and clothes shredded, Kakashi hung unconscious by shackles on his wrists, the miserable amount of chakra he had left churning a raging disaster within him; he was under a genjutsu, no doubt, and Harune didn't want to know what sort of fucked up illusions Orochimaru had planted in Kakashi's mind. She was by his side in a split second preparing herself mentally before she more closely examined the damage the rogue Sannin had done.

Tilting his head up, Harune noticed that Kakashi's mismatched eyes were bloodshot from starvation, dehydration, and lack of sleep, but he hadn't actually been unconscious.

"Kuso, Kashi-kun," Harune cursed, hating herself for the tears that began to sting her Byaku-Sharingan eyes as she lifted her fore and middle fingers up to his face.

"Release," she commanded, and immediately Kakashi focused on her.

"Haru…ne…" he said hoarsely, and Harune flung her arms around his neck.

"Kashi-kun!" she cried, ripping the remainder of his mask off his bruised face and crashing her lips against his, locking her hands in fistfuls of his messy silver hair and holding his broken body as close to hers as was humanly possible.

"How the fuck did you get yourself into this mess?" she breathed, reluctantly pulling away, but resting her forehead against his. Not waiting for an answer, Harune took the katana she had forged from her own kinton metal and cut Kakashi down from the iron shackles.

"Let's get you out of here, yeah?" Harune said tenderly, supporting Kakashi's near dead weight on her shoulder.

Byaku-Sharingan eyes searching desperately for any signs of an escape route, Harune quickly summoned Kuroda, relying on the panther's instinct and heightened senses to locate an exit. But when her trustworthy summon found none, Harune resigned to her last resort.

Laying Kakashi gently on Kuroda's back, the Kamineko gathered a fearsome amount of chakra in her right fist as she explained her plan to Kuroda.

"I punch that wall, you run through with him. Run right through; don't look back. And once you make it out, bring him straight to Konoha. Don't you dare wait for me, understand?" the kunoichi directed in a hushed voice, already feeling Orochimaru's sinister aura approaching from the same way she had come in. Kuroda sensed it as well, and although she looked disinclined to abandon her summoner, Harune knew she could count on her lifelong partner.

"Good," Harune nodded. She bent down beside Kuroda until her eyes met Kakashi's; hers clouded with tears as she tried to smile reassuringly, his wide and panicked as he realized what she was planning on doing.

"Harune," he choked out, unable to vocalize a more articulate protest. His mind was still hazy with the after effects of the genjutsu, and his body was feeble from his days in captivity.

"Shh, it's okay. You'll be okay," Harune whispered, pressing her lips against his once more, this time softly, tenderly, and with all the love the emotionally battered kunoichi had left.

"Don't…don't do this, please. We'll go back to Konoha together, and we'll come back and kick his fucking ass," Kakashi begged, willing his body to either get up and fight by her side or take her to flee with him, to no avail.

"This is my chance. It might be my only chance. If I don't do this now, it will never end. This is my fight, Kashi," Harune argued, though there was nothing in her tone that said she was anything but deeply, painfully _sorry_.

"I love you," Kakashi choked out, urging Harune to rethink her decision and cursing his body to hell for not allowing him to do anything more than plead with her.

"And you're the only one insane enough to do something as foolish as that," Harune smirked, but her voice cracked and she had to try to chuckle in a desperate attempt to keep from losing what remained of her composure.

Her eyes shot up to the doorway as she began to hear Orochimaru's snake-like hiss echo through the halls before she kissed Kakashi once more, urgently this time. Kakashi could taste the salt of her tears as they rolled down her cheeks and onto her lips, and when he pulled away, those dark, anguished emerald eyes, careless, thick black tresses of gorgeous hair, and that fucking addictive, sweet, metallic fragrance that surrounded the Kamineko seared themselves into his memory.

_Say it, Harune, please. Say it, just once, _Kakashi prayed silently, searching the kunoichi for any intentions she might have had to say those three words he so desperately needed to hear from her.

But she didn't say it. Instead, she stood, wasting no more time in demolishing the wall behind her with a single chakra-powered blow. As promised, Kuroda dashed through, the battered walls collapsing in her wake.

Not a moment later, Orochimaru entered the destroyed room, the malicious grin stretching his snake-like face proving that he had already known what he was walking into.

"Harune," he hissed gleefully, "You've finally come back."


	26. The Absolute Release

_**Enjoy ;) *evil cackles***_

* * *

"You look like shit," Harune remarked casually, giving the Sannin a once over. It was true; Orochimaru hadn't been able to secure himself a suitable host in the two months following Harune's betrayal, and his condition has rapidly deteriorated in the four months following his due date.

"One of the many reasons I look forward to making your pretty face mine," Orochimaru shot back, though he maintained a wary distance between them.

"Ne, ne, ne, I'm more than just eye candy," Harune scoffed, unsheathing her katana in a rather showoff-y manner.

"Of course not; to have snagged a man like Hatake Kakashi, you must really be something," Orochimaru smirked. At the mention of Kakashi's name, Harune let out a rather feral snarl, and Orochimaru's eyes widened with pleasure as he watched her skin crawl with the geometric tattoos of her Curse Mark.

"Don't you _dare_ speak his fucking name," Harune spat, the cool carelessness in her attitude less than a moment ago long forgotten.

"As temperamental as ever," Orochimaru mock-sighed. "But really, you must have done quite the number on him; he did absolutely everything he could to keep you from me. He's a tough one, which much I knew when he took Tenzo-kun away from me—" Harune practically growled "—but he certainly doesn't know when enough is enough, huh?" Orochimaru ginned wickedly as he watched Harune's blood boil.

"And apparently, neither do _you_," the kunoichi hissed, launching herself forward and jumping in to attack her former master. Orochimaru barely had an instant to react and he had hardly escaped the razor sharp blade of Harune's first katana. He wasn't, however, as lucky with the second, and the defected Sannin had to sacrifice his left arm in an attempt to save his head from being severed clean from his neck.

"Always the one to draw first blood," he chuckled, as though Harune's attack had sparked some sort of fond memory in his mind.

"And always the one to draw last," Harune spat, blood flying across the room as she swung her signature weapons with deadly speed and strength.

"Do you really believe you can kill _me_, Harune-chan?" Orochimaru sneered, half-transformed into his true form: the Great White Serpent, as he manoeuvred his way through the narrow gaps between Harune's ceaseless strikes.

Pale white Sharingan eyes glared pure death at the man who had used her for years, and although the answer to that question was a definite _no_, Harune wouldn't let that stop her.

"I can sure as hell try," was her response, as she resheathed her blood-stained katana and formed the seals of her kinton jutsus.

"Kinton: Piercing Coffin!" Harune growled, and a huge metal coffin, each side lined with thick spears, materialized out of thin air, closing in on the criminal Sannin and trapping him.

Though Harune heard the distinct sound of bones cracking and flesh tearing, signifying the end of her opponent, the young jonin kept her guard up high as she approached the deathtrap.

She had barely taken a step forward when her knees buckled, and a searing pain cut straight through her lungs.

Body shaking violently with coughs as she gasped for air, Harune collapsed on her knees to the damp dirt floor and dug her nails into it as she bit back the cries of pain that begged to escape her lips in response to the after effects of the Assimilation Jutsu.

_Not yet,_ she told her body, but when she shifted to stand back up on her feet, her body remained stone-still against all her efforts, paralyzed by Orochimaru's venom.

_Kuso, kuso, KUSO!_ she screamed internally, only now noticing the sharp sting on one of Orochimaru's snake clones sinking its fangs into the back of her right calf.

The large titanium coffin swung open the moment Harune had lost her grip on her jutsu, the venom now running freely through her veins immobilizing her body and ridding her mind of any coherent thought.

Unable to lift her head to see what was going on, Harune relied on her Byakugan to show her what was making the sickening sound of wet flesh on flesh. It was Orochimaru; his original body had been crushed by the coffin, but the Sannin wasn't without tricks of his own, and Harune watched with mixed repulsion and intrigue as he "shed his skin", so to speak, his new body crawling its way out of the mangled corpse Harune had annihilated.

"That's a new trick," the Sannin remarked, kicking the coffin lightly with his foot as if to test its durability once he recovered. "Deadly, too," he added, running a finger along one of the spines that had impaled his first body. "But not enough," he finished, this time with his face inches from hers and his hand latched into her braided hair.

Harune involuntarily let out a tiny yelp of pain as Orochimaru yanked her up brusquely and whipped her into the wall that she had obliterated, her back hitting the mess of debris that her punch had created.

Harune felt the Demon come forward and take over as she pulled her broken body up on its feet, but this time it wasn't to fight for her; rather, the Demon had come out to greet her creator.

"Orochimaru-sama," she said, her wicked smile contorting Harune's now greyed face.

"That's what I like to see," the Sannin smirked, approaching his most powerful creation and lifting her back up again by her braided tresses, now snow white. The Demon, though, didn't flinch or cry out in pain; her horrid grin just stretched wider, as though she was overjoyed to be reunited with her true master.

Harune, however, fought viciously against the Mark. The ANBU Panther, having sensed dire trouble, came forth, her killer instinct and Harune's own pure will resisting the Mark with all their might, to no avail.

With Orochimaru around, the Demon was in complete control. Despite this, the rogue Sannin knew that right now, Harune and her ANBU alter ego were more than likely to rip him to shreds if he tried to gain possession of her mind and body.

"Come with me," he commanded, and the Demon happily obliged, her sharp tail flicking happily as she obediently fell into step behind the Sannin.

Chaining the kunoichi to the ceiling in the same manner he had Kakashi, Orochimaru tilted the Demon's chin up and stared directly into her blackened eyes.

"We are going to break you down until you are _nothing_," he sneered, no trace of his usual derisive amusement anywhere on his pale snake-resembling face. He was talking directly to Harune now, wherever she was in her tattered mess of a mind, and he was oozing with pure killing intent.

Harune shuddered as she retreated into the furthest corner of her mind, having given up on fighting the Demon for the time being. She couldn't, even if she wanted to; Orochimaru's icy glare and the malicious aura that surrounded him paralyzed her as effectively as his snakes' venom. Even the Panther froze, and although her piercing green eyes bore right back into Orochimaru's yellow slits, she couldn't do anything more than scowl.

"We are so fucked," the Panther said when the criminal Sannin finally left their prison cell. Harune looked up to her ANBU alter-ego, shaking her head as she hugged her knees.

"Yeah," she whispered, "yeah, I know."

* * *

"Kuso, are you gonna help me or what?!" the Panther growled at Harune as she took swings at the bars of the prison cell the Demon had managed to put up around them after having gained absolute dominance over their body.

Harune just watched the Panther's katana clash against the iron bars, sparks flying as she struck them relentlessly.

"Stop wasting your time," she muttered. "We've already tried that."

"God, you're pathetic," the Panther spat, pausing only a moment to look down at her softer, more human alter-ego.

"Just because I don't think brute force will solve all my problems, doesn't mean that I'm pathetic," Harune rolled her eyes. The Demon had become unusually still; Harune knew she was listening intently to their conversation.

The Panther, equally aware of the Demon's eavesdropping, continued with a scoff."

"You know, Kakashi and the Wolf would agree with me," she said, but ceased her assault on their cage and sat herself down beside Harune.

"The Wolf?" Harune asked, raising an eyebrow.

"The Wolf, the Hound, I don't know what you guys call him. But you know who I'm talking about, ne?" the Panther waved a hand in the air carelessly. Both of them were now hyper-aware of the Demon looking in as she tuned in to their exchange. Panther glanced sideways at Harune, who had straightened slightly and looked like she had something on her mind, or rather, being a part of her, the Panther could just innately _sense_ that Harune was in the process of coming up with some sort of plan.

"Oh, him," Harune said, understanding that the Panther was referring to Kakashi's ANBU alter-ego. After a bit of consideration of Panther's idea, she shrugged.

"Maa, obviously the Wolf would agree. You ANBU are fucking implacable. All you want is to fight," Harune snorted, thinking of all the comrades she had served with in the elite assassination organization. Before admission, every candidate had to go through a series of tests in order to gauge their capacity to handle such brutal work; the final exam being to disengage their cold-blooded shinobi instinct from their actual personality. This was done to preserve ANBU operatives' sanity; their alter-egos would take care of the deplorable and grisly missions they were destined to be assigned to, while their more human sides would be protected from the guilt and trauma that would undoubtedly come with such grotesque acts and unrelenting bloodshed.

"Kakashi too," the Panther added, but Harune ignored this. The Demon was flicking her tail with excitement again, and Harune was picking up Orochimaru's chakra signature as it approached them. The Panther tensed immediately, but Harune remained seated, a calm air floating around her. It was too calm; the kind of casual aloofness that the Panther knew Harune adopted as she internally prepared for battle. Both of them knew exactly what was coming; it had been a couple of days now since they had been captured by Orochimaru, and now he was ready to claim her as his next vessel.

"Orochimaru-sama," they heard the Demon greet.

"Harune, I'm pleased to see that you're less dense than your boyfriend and you know when to surrender," the Sannin jeered, taking the kunoichi's face in one hand and forcing her to meet his eyes.

"Go fuck yourself," the Panther snarled with such savagery that the Demon couldn't filter it, and Orochimaru burst out into laughter as his prisoner's hiss echoed through the chamber.

"How pitiful to see such a formidable kunoichi reduced to such primitive behaviour," he chuckled.

All at once, Harune and the Panther felt a crushing weight beat down on them, and suddenly Orochimaru was facing them within their cage the Demon had created.

"It's over," he said, and the sinister aura that surrounded him washed over the pair of them.

"Kuso," the Panther struggled against the vile chakra that began to swallow them, but Harune remained absolutely still, her face a blank slate. "Harune!" the Panther roared, thrashing violently now against Orochimaru's increasingly powerful grasp. "Wake the fuck up! What the hell are you doing?!"

"There's no use, Harune is gone," Orochimaru cackled, the deep satisfaction dripping from his voice. The Panther looked on desperately at her catatonic alter-ego. If the real Harune was already defeated, she wouldn't last much longer, either. Just as Panther began to resign to their fate, Harune's voice forced both she and Orochimaru to turn abruptly to her.

"I'm insulted that you think so lowly of me," she said, flashing the renegade Sannin her signature smirk. The Panther opened her mouth to cheer on her alter-ego before continuing her fight, but she froze as she felt every last chakra reserve on her body throb with the anticipation of release.

_Atta girl, Harune,_ the Panther thought, finally understanding her plan.

"Absolute Release," Harune commanded, and immediately, a massive, uncontrollable rush of chakra ripped through her body as all the reserves she had stolen throughout her three years as Orochimaru's subordinate broke free from their seals. Harune and the Panther bit their lips as the chakra flood tore her body apart from the inside out, but the Demon wasn't as prepared for the onslaught of raw energy, and she screeched in agony.

"You little," Orochimaru began, but he recognized that he had neither the time nor the power to complete his Living Corpse Reincarnation Jutsu, and he quickly retreated from Harune's mind and body before the chakra overload could destroy him, too.

"OH FUCK NO!" Harune cursed as she rushed to keep Orochimaru confined within her spirit, but it was no use. The criminal Sannin had already broken free of his former subordinate, and fled the base, forsaking his vessel ad leaving her to die.

"Okay," Harune breathed, defeated. "Now we're really fucked."

The Demon had long since retreated back into the safety of the three tattooed tomoe, unable to bear the agony of Harune's absolute release, but neither Harune nor the Panther stepped up to take control of the body. There was no point anyway.

The Panther watched helplessly as Harune sank down to her knees, shaking uncontrollable with rage, pain, and harrowing sorrow.

"All this, _all this_, and I couldn't do it. I couldn't kill him," her voice quivered, and Panther pitied her gentler, more delicate counterpart as tears fell down her tattooed cheeks.

"You saved Kakashi," the ANBU killer reminded her in a meek attempt to comfort her. Harune had to laugh lightly, but there was no mistaking the self-hatred and disdain in her eyes as she looked up to meet the Panther's gaze.

"I love him so much," she choked out. The Panther limped over to Harune, ignoring the fiery pain that blazed through her, and sat herself down.

"I know," she replied. "And he knows, too."

"Our fight is over, Panther," Harune said, swallowing hard, but her tears had dried as she sat back up against the back wall of her mind's prison cell.

"I think we did alright," Panther smiled sadly, as both of them faded into nothing, ready to welcome Death with open arms.


	27. Say It

**_*Shamelessly writes smutty fanfic at work*_**

**_Enjoy, darlings! Please, as always, read and review! *mwah*_**

* * *

A cold, wet feeling on her forehead woke Harune from the most peaceful slumber she had ever had. She instinctively began to sit up, but quickly backtracked as she felt a burning ache shock her muscles.

"Kuso," she muttered, wincing as she lay back down. She couldn't feel the Panther's presence, and immediately she began to wonder if she was dead.

It was the faint sound of shuffling that piqued Harune's curiosity, and despite the pain, she forced herself to sit up and take in her surroundings.

She was in a tent, from what she could tell, and she scanned the tiny space until her groggy eyes settled on the dark, hooded figure that hand entered and was now stooping over her bedside.

"Who…" Harune began, but her throat was painfully dry, and her voice cracked before she could continue any further. Without a word, the stranger gently pushed her back down and replaced the cold washcloth that had slipped off her forehead when she had sat up. His (he was much too large and broad to be anything but a man, Harune judged internally) movements were quick and meticulous, and he was careful not to allow Harune to see his face.

"Drink," the stranger said, holding up a glass of what smelled like fresh tea (he was a definite he). Harune eyed him suspiciously, but the kunoichi couldn't sense anything particularly off about the man who seemed to be tending to her, and she obliged.

Immediately after having swallowed the first sip, Harune was enveloped in a comforting warmth, and she slipped out of consciousness once more.

* * *

"Assign me to this mission," Kakashi said firmly, glaring at Hiruzen shamelessly. The Third Hokage eyed the splinters Kakashi's hands were creating as his hands gripped the edge of his desk with intensifying tension, looked to the hole Harune had punched into his wall, and back.

_These kids are going to destroy my office_, he sighed internally, before shaking his head.

"Harune left to get you back, and she got herself captured instead. I'm not sending you out to just so you can do the same and switch places with her _again_," the old man explained, exasperated with the cat-and-mouse game Orochimaru was playing with his subordinates. Kakashi looked like he was just about ready to snap the desk in half.

"Harune stayed behind because she felt it was her duty to put an end to Orochimaru, something you couldn't do," Kakashi growled. Hiruzen looked at him, utterly shocked for the briefest of moments. It was highly unlike the compliant and respectful jonin to bite back at him, but he decided that it was to be expected, with Harune involved. "Right now, I couldn't give less of a— " Kakashi held his tongue, and rephrased his appeal. He was starting to sound like his hot-blooded nineko summoner, and he knew from experience that her pushy and commanding methods didn't always work over so well with the Third. "—I don't care whether Orochimaru lives or dies, _right now_. All I want is to bring Harune back to the village."

When Hiruzen just looked at him, no intentions of changing his mind on his tired face, Kakashi continued, determined to be assigned to the team responsible for Harune's retrieval.

"You don't even know where she is," he pointed out.

"Neither do you," Hiruzen countered. This was true, Kakashi had been unconscious for most of the journey back to Konoha.

"Kuroda does," Kakashi said, clearly fuming now, unable to understand why the Hokage was so resistant to allow him to go back out for Harune, despite having been told why just moments ago. The large feline, who had been pacing anxiously the entire time, paused to look briefly at the Hokage before resuming her edgy tour around his office. She had lost track of her summoner's chakra signature about a day ago, and though she didn't want to believe the worst, Harune hadn't called on her since she told her to flee with Kakashi, and that was a bad sign.

"And I will be sending her out with the ANBU team once they've assembled," Hiruzen assured his best captain, hoping to appease him, if even just a little.

"Who are you planning on sending out there?" Kakashi demanded. Though he knew his ANBU comrades were all impressively skilled shinobi, most of whom he trusted with his life— albeit, only because he wouldn't be able to properly carry out his missions if he didn't— he doubted their ability to locate Harune and bring her back to Konoha.

"I'm still working out the details," Hiruzen replied honestly.

"Kuroda has only ever worked alongside Harune and myself. She doesn't speak, so how could you expect a team of random shinobi to just understand her on demand? Hokage-sama, you have no other choice; you need to assign me to this mission." Kakashi pointed out, arms crossed.

Hiruzen sighed, Kakashi seldom contested his orders, but he knew he shouldn't have expected anything less than this sort of resistance from the Hatake in this sort of situation.

"I guess there's no helping it," the old man decided, only after much consideration. Kakashi inwardly congratulated himself for having won this debate; Harune would have been proud.

"However," Hiruzen continued, before Kakashi could get too excited over his small victory, "you will _not_ be assigned as captain this time. You are only going because we need Kuroda, and Kuroda needs you. Is that clear?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama," Kakashi complied; he'd rather be assigned to this mission under someone else's command than not at all.

"I will summon you once we are ready to deploy. You will remain on standby for now, Kakashi," the Third finally dismissed him.

* * *

"You do know where she is, right, Kuroda?" Kakashi asked, not bothering to hide the anxiety in his tone. Kuroda was an animal, and like his ninken, she could innately sense her human comrades' emotions, whether or not they tried to conceal them. Much to the ninken summoner's chagrin, the black panther shook her head, trotting alongside him back to his apartment. She refused to leave his side until Harune was found.

"What do you mean, no?" Kakashi demanded, coming to a full stop. Kuroda responded in kind, looking up at her summoner's best friend dismally. It was at times like this that the panther wished she could still speak, like most summons. When she was but a young cub, Kuroda had been graced with the gift of speech, both human and feline, however an incident during Harune's genin days had cost her her vocal cords. Having always worked together seamlessly from the day they first met, Kuroda and Harune had quickly adapted and learned to communicate without so much as a flick of a finger or tail, but it still proved to be rather difficult to communicate with other shinobi, even another summoner, like Kakashi. The most the panther could do was let out a guttural grunt from her stomach and keep walking.

"You mean she's not at the base anymore?" Kakashi urged, following her. Again, Kuroda shook her head.

"Oh, fuck," Kakashi cursed, the anxiety in the pit of his stomach sinking deeper and quickly turning into outright panic. Orochimaru was already on the move with Harune; he could easily go off the grid again, erasing any hope they had of rescuing the Kamineko. The situation was desperate, and Kakashi debated whether or not to just go after Harune on his own, but without so much as a clue to where she was, such a careless and brash move would be more likely to only delay Harune's rescue, and Kakashi had no intention of wasting any time in retrieving the missing kunoichi.

The soft thump of Kuroda's tail intermittently hitting the ground as she walked brought Kakashi out of his internal dispute. It took him a couple of moments to realize what the black panther was doing, but once he did, he lifted his hitai-ate from his Sharingan immediately.

It was Kuroda's attempt at Patrol Code. Kakashi was slightly taken aback when he registered that he knew it, but he quickly figured that Harune must have taught her the series of periodic sounds in anticipation of emergencies such as these, where she wouldn't be around to translate her summon's thoughts.

"I lost…her signature…" Kakashi read Kuroda's coding aloud, analyzing it with his Sharingan in order to understand her as quickly as possible. "Her chakra signature?" he clarified. He couldn't look at her while he awaited her answer, and instead he hissed a series of expletives under his breath as he fumbled with the key to his front door, his shaking hands forcing him to try the keyhole several times before it finally unlocked.

Only when he finally looked back down to her did he notice the fear that clouded her green eyes.

"No… it can't be," Kakashi breathed, having to sit himself down on his bed. Being a summoner himself, Kakashi knew that there was only one explanation for a disconnection between a summon's chakra and their summoner's, and that was death, and it went both ways. Kakashi ran his hands through his hair, refusing to even consider such a possibility. To him, Kamineko Harune had always been one of those people he had thought to reign indestructible. She was small, but she was strong: physically _and_ mentally. Harune wasn't dead; she couldn't be...

* * *

Hours passed, and Kakashi's anxiety grew with every one that did. Still the Hokage hadn't called on him, and Kakashi began to wonder how complicated it was to assemble a competent team.

Kuroda still hadn't ceased her pacing since the Hokage's office, and Kakashi heard her pad through his tiny apartment, occasionally passing through his bedroom, where he lay rigid and tense as he listened eagerly for any approaching footsteps that would signify the Sandaime's summoning.

It was another few hours before Kakashi jumped up at the knock on his front door. Questioning how he hadn't noticed the approaching visitor before they had gotten close enough to knock, Kakashi sprinted to the front entrance and swung the door open, chomping at the bit to get going.

But instead of the porcelain animal mask he had been expecting to meet, Kakashi nearly stumbled over the body lying on his balcony. It was Harune, and Kakashi froze for a split second, completely unprepared for the unconscious kunoichi's appearance.

He instinctively sniffed out for any other shinobi's presence, but when he found none, he picked up Harune's limp body and carried her in, unsure of what else he could possibly do.

It occurred to the experienced jonin that it very well could have been a trap, but setting Harune down delicately on his bed as though one wrong move could shatter her entire body, he had Obito's eye analyze her chakra, and he wasn't sure if he was relieved or even more distressed when he confirmed that the girl lying on his bed was, in fact, Harune.

Kuroda, of course, was by the kunoichi's side before Kakashi had even had the chance to set her down completely, her affectionate nudging of her summoner giving Kakashi no leeway for doubt that this was the Kamineko.

Kakashi watched as Kuroda fussed over he summoner, kneading her gently with a giant black paw, searching her body for any signs of injury. When she found none, she gave a satisfied nod, and stalked off to lay down and rest in the ninken summoner's living room.

Thankful to the panther for giving him some privacy with Harune, Kakashi closed his bedroom door and slowly sat himself on the edge of the bed, removing his flak jacket and armor when he realized he still had them on in anticipation of his mission. But the mission was rendered moot now, and Kakashi decided that he would only let anyone know of Harune's unexpected appearance should someone come by to summon him to the Hokage's office for a final briefing. It was thoroughly illegal to withhold this sort of information in a situation such as this one, but Kakashi knew that if he were to alert the Sandaime on Harune's return, he certainly wouldn't let either of them rest until the mystery surrounding the kunoichi was solved.

Kakashi looked down at Harune's sleeping face, admiring her now without reserve; she wasn't awake to embarrass him with her piercing green eyes that always seemed to be teasing him, albeit in her harmless and oddly affectionate sort of way. Though he knew that Kuroda had already given her a once over, Kakashi took it upon himself to ensure that Harune wasn't suffering from any serious injuries or rigged with any traps set for either of them. She was dressed in a thick winter cloak, which Kakashi unclasped and gently slid off her in order to examine her more closely. He found nothing out of the ordinary, and just knowing that Harune was alright relieved him of a magnitude of anxiety that had been weighing on him since he himself had woken up from his coma a couple of days prior.

"You crazy son of a bitch," Kakashi whispered, his voice caught in the back of his throat as he caressed Harune's thick hair, his fingers unable to recall when they had last come into contact with something so soft and lovely. Her breathing was slow and far between, but it was regular, and Kakashi found that simply watching the rise and fall of her supple chest was surprisingly soothing.

"How did you end up back here?" he wondered aloud, his hands now resting on either side of her as he leaned in over her. She really was phenomenally stunning, although Kakashi was relatively sure no one _but_ a shinobi would give her a second glance with her skin as scarred up as it was. Kakashi didn't mind in the slightest, he thought, as he allowed his hand to hover over the jagged hills and valleys of scar tissue that decorated the dark skin of her chest, the only part of her not entirely concealed beneath her winter uniform.

"You once asked me why I wore a mask all the time," Kakashi reminisced. Harune's spontaneous question at the time had been picking at the back of his mind since the day she asked it, but he had been too embarrassed and reluctant to divulge his reason to her, especially when he already knew how she'd respond.

_"__Kashi-kun, that's really no reason to hide behind a mask your whole life," _he could hear Harune's permanently raspy voice chastise him if he were to tell her why he always sported a mask. The son of the White Fang; that's how the last Hatake had always been recognized. He wasn't _Kakashi_, he was Sakumo's son. The child prodigy, revered because of his lineage and feared because of his inherited strength. And if he wasn't the White Fang's boy, he was an Inuzuka. The 19 year old had always detested the red fang-shaped markings tattooed onto his face; they were a permanent reminder of the mother he had never met and the clan that refused to take him in following his father's suicide, unwilling to raise the child of a hero-turned coward. The jonin considered telling her now; she wouldn't be conscious to even hear his confession, and he could rid himself of the eating sensation that he really should trust her enough to explain himself to her.

'Hmph, maybe one day," he said, rather tenderly, much to his own surprise, "but not today."

He had been so fixed on her peaceful face and enchanting hair that he hadn't noticed her hand stir as his deep voice pulled her out of her dreamless slumber, and he nearly snapped her wrist out of pure instinct when he felt her ice-cold skin brush against his when she blindly reached out to touch him.

"Kashi?" she breathed, her eyes opening slowly as they focused on his unmasked face. She winced when she became aware of the painfully firm grip the ANBU captain had on her wrist, now pinned over her head, and Kakashi immediately released her the second he realized what he was doing.

"Haru…" he said, steadying himself with his other arm so that he was now leaning over her in a rather protective manner, as though to keep any potential outsiders from intruding on this reunion.

Harune's eyes wandered around the room, and she looked as though she were trying to figure out where exactly she had awoken.

"Am I… am I dead?" she asked hesitantly when her eyes fixed back on Kakashi, whose brows knitted together in response.

"No, you're… you're alive," he assured her, unable to hold back a chuckle at the oddity of her question.

Harune didn't question his word any further, partly because she half-believed him, but mostly because she didn't really care at the moment. All that mattered to her right then was that Kakashi was right there in front of her, and real or not, she reached forward, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him down to her, kissing him deeply. Kakashi didn't fight it; he remembered the last time she had kissed him, when she had rescued him from Orochimaru, and he had seriously believed that he may never have gotten to feel that way again, not because he thought that Harune would never again return to Konoha, but perhaps her kiss may have been more on impulse when she found him than anything else. With a girl capricious as Harune, it wasn't totally impossible.

But this kiss, now, was definitely real. _This_ was Harune truly felt, and although he vaguely knew it this entire time, Kakashi had forced himself to accept her denial and keep his suspicions of the truth tucked away in the back of his mind.

Careful not to break the kiss, Kakashi positioned himself so that he was hovering over Harune, both arms supporting his weight while she clung to him, nails raking across his scalp and making him shiver with pleasure as his tongue explored her deliciously sweet mouth.

"Kashi," Harune moaned when he slid one hand down to the small of her back and arched her into his body, the feeling of his already hardened member pressing against her driving the both of them mad. She tugged desperately at the hem of his shirt before sliding her hands beneath it and freely exploring his body. They weren't ice-cold anymore, and Kakashi felt Harune smirk against his lips when she slipped one into his pants, causing him to involuntarily buck his hips into her.

In one swift move, Kakashi pulled away from her and stripped, pulling his shirt off and shrugging his pants away until he was only in his boxers. Harune took the opportunity to do the same, and she hummed pleasantly in his ear when she felt the heat of his bare chest against the coolness of her own.

"Are you sure about this?" Kakashi murmured in her ear before resuming his assault on her neck and jawline with nips and kisses as though to convince her that she most definitely _was_ sure about this. He felt her giggle at the sensation of his silver stubble scratching lightly at her smooth skin, but instead of answering, she grabbed a hand that was wrapped around her slim waist and guided it into her underwear, giving Kakashi full access to her body. Kakashi accidentally nipped at her collar bone a little too hard the instant his fingers came into contact with the wet heat of her core, and it was pure impulse that drove him to slide them into her. With a sharp intake of breath, Harune took her turn in kissing every inch of Kakashi as she could possibly reach while she focused on the sensation of Kakashi's fingers exploring her. Her tiny whimpers of pleasure completely erased any coherent thought from Kakashi's mind, and he couldn't remember how it happened when he found himself buried deep within Harune, who closed her eyes, adjusting as he stretched her a little wider and pushed in a little deeper than she was used to. Kakashi waited (although somewhat impatiently) for her, but the second she opened her eyes, sly and darkened with desire, and gave him the go-ahead, he thrust into her as hard as he could, determined to feel every inch of her body take him in and claim her as _his_.

It didn't last much longer after that, though neither of them really needed it to. With every thrust, Harune clutched tighter and tighter to Kakashi, her cries muffled against his shoulder and her legs wrapped securely around his waist.

"Kashi…Holy _fuck_, Kashi, I love you…. _I love you so_ _fucking much_," Harune gasped between moans. Her abrupt declaration of her feelings for him coupled with the sensation of her body tensing and contracting around his cock as she orgasmed absolutely electrified Kakashi, and it was more than enough to push him to his climax not a moment later. The pair clung to each other as they rode out their orgasms together, before Kakashi slowly pulled out and fell limply on his back beside Harune, both of them desperately trying to catch their breath.

"Say it again," Kakashi said suddenly. He was looking up at the ceiling, but he felt Harune shuffle beside him, and he brushed her dark hair back behind her ear when she climbed over his chest and leaned over him to meet his gaze. Again, she kissed him, but that was no longer enough. Kakashi pushed her back up and shook his head.

"Say it."

This time, Harune laughed. It was a sweet, tender laugh, but Kakashi let out a low growl from the back of his throat in response, earning himself another chuckle from the Kamineko, who enjoyed teasing him. It thrilled her to know how much he craved her, _all _of her.

"I love you," she obliged, her earthy green eyes shining with warmth and affection.

"Say it again," Kakashi demanded. He had waited for those three words to fall from the Kamineko's lips for as long as he could remember, and they sounded so much better than he ever could have imagined them to.

"I love you."

"Again."

"Hatake," Harune started, planting a kiss on the jonin's forehead, "Kakashi," another on his right cheek, "I," one for his scarred eye, "love," a peck on his nose, "you," she finished, finally resting on his lips. When she pulled away, she rested her head on his chest, and almost instantly fell asleep to the steady sound of his heartbeat.

"And I love you, Kamineko Harune," Kakashi whispered, cradling her body close to his and dozing off into her sweet and comforting scent.


	28. Information Withheld (Like Always)

**_Ohmygod I'm so sorry for the wait! Lots of things have been going on right now, and I had such a hard time finding the opportunity to just sit down and write this bloody chapter! So much mystery, what the hell is going on with Harune?! Maa, OHR is almost over, but a sequel is going to be coming out one day :') I'm stoked to write it, and I hope you guys will be there to read it! Anywho, enjoy this chapter, and don't forget to review my darlings! *huggles*_**

* * *

Kakashi awoke to total chaos. Although he had been relatively sure that he _had _fallen asleep within the safety of his apartment, his shinobi conditioning forced him out of bed, the kunai he so stereo-typically kept under his pillow already in hand and poised to strike.

"Kuso, don't just stand there, answer the bloody door!" Harune hissed. Kakashi frantically looked around the room to find the source of her voice, and his brows furrowed when he noticed she was sitting on the floor, clutching at her right leg as though she were in extreme pain, but the urgent knocking on the door to which she was referring grabbed his attention less than a moment later.

"Matte!" Harune cried out just before Kakashi darted out of the room to answer it, and she tossed him the pair of pants and masked undershirt that had been long forgotten on the floor the night before.

"Shit," Kakashi muttered, quickly getting dressed and pulling his mask over his face, cheeks flushed with embarrassment. "Thanks," he nodded gratefully to Harune, who silently shooed him off in the direction of the front entrance. It had only taken one more knock on the door once he reached it for Kakashi to slow his heart rate down and regain his composure; there was only one reason why anyone would be at his home so early in the morning.

"Kakashi-senpai," a masked ANBU agent greeted the jonin respectfully, bowing the moment the door has swung open. "The Sandaime has assembled team for Harune-san's retrieval."

"Finally," Kakashi mumbled, but he made no move to follow his subordinate out to the Hokage's office.

"Kakashi-senpai, it's probably best if we head there straight away," the younger shinobi suggested, clearly confused by his superior's behaviour.

Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck thoughtfully as he opened his mouth to explain the highly unusual situation, but he was interrupted by none other than Harune herself, who had somehow managed to sneak up behind him and place a hand on his shoulder.

"Seems the Sandaime's a little late," she said, eyebrows cocked and lips curved in her signature smirk. She looked fine, but Kakashi could feel her leaning on him a little too heavily; she was definitely struggling to stay standing.

"Ha-Harune-san!" the young ANBU agent gasped, making the kunoichi laugh lightly.

"Yeah, I suppose I've got some explaining to do," she said. "Lead the way," she added, gesturing ahead to their summoner. With a quick nod, the nameless ANBU boy turned on his heel and leaped down off the balcony, rushing back towards the Academy.

As soon as he left, Harune let herself fall beside the doorpost, releasing a huge sigh when she sat down.

"You okay?" Kakashi asked quietly, kneeling beside her. Harune chuckled at the concern visible in his grey eyes.

"Why do I even bother," Kakashi frowned in annoyance. "All you so is laugh at everything I say."

"I'm fine," Harune lied, though she knew she wasn't fooling her jonin counterpart. Kakashi rolled his eyes, but bent down to help her up.

"Kakashi, leggo of me," Harune shooed him off her half-heartedly, knowing that she needed his support right now more than she'd care to admit. "I'm a grown ass woman, I—"

"Yeah, yeah, you can stand on your own, mhmm," Kakashi cut the stubborn young woman off, and his usually scowling eyes flashed with a hint of a smile when she shot him a dirty look in response.

"Let's go," Harune grumbled, grudgingly latching herself onto her partner and allowing him to guide her towards the inner village.

* * *

"Harune, so you've defeated Orochimaru, is that why you've returned safely?" Hiruzen greeted the jonin kunoichi as she and Kakashi stepped into his office.

"I wish," Harune scoffed, crossing her arms as she shifted all her weight onto her left leg. She had managed to convince Kakashi to work with her and act as though nothing were out of the ordinary; whatever was wrong with her, she was certain she didn't want the Hokage getting into it.

"What do you mean?" Hiruzen asked skeptically, clasping his hands together on his desk.

"Orochimaru's still alive," Harune said bitterly, but she didn't linger on the topic of the renegade Sannin. "He captured me, and the Curse Mark totally took over. When he tried to perform the Living Corpse Reincarnation Jutsu, I released all my seals, but he escaped before they could destroy him too…" she swallowed, hard. "Honestly, Sandaime-sama, I should be dead right now."

"You say you should be dead; clearly you're not. Did you manage to escape?" the Hokage inquired, the gears in his mind already turning and trying to make sense of the mystery surrounding the kunoichi.

"Not on my own, no," Harune sighed, resting her head in her hand as she spoke. She found no reason to hide that she had in fact been rescued, but by whom: she wasn't sure she wanted to relay that much information, at least not yet. As expected, Hiruzen followed with the most logical question, and Harune cringed internally before replying, though she made certain that she showed no signs of it.

"So to whom do I owe the pleasure of your return, Harune?" he asked, and Harune snorted.

"I wish I could tell you," she replied, raising her head to look back up at the old man. He was old, yes, but he was no fool, and Harune knew she had to be on her A-game to be able to successfully withhold information from him without the least bit of suspicion on his part. Both of them were highly wary of each other by now; with lies going back and forth between them so casually since her initial return to the village, the pair had learned to take everything the other said with a grain of salt. It did help, however, that Kakashi clearly believed Harune's word whole-heartedly; as far as he knew, everything Harune had experienced was out on the table, and the complete trust in his aura was sure to influence the Hokage, regardless the latter's predisposition to doubt everything that came out of his subordinate's mouth.

"You have absolutely no recollection of how you came to find yourself here?" Hiruzen questioned, reading Harune carefully.

"I lost consciousness in Orochimaru's base; I woke up in Kakashi's apartment," Harune said. This wasn't entirely untrue, she had just neglected to mention that today hadn't been the first time she had awoken from her coma. Hiruzen eyed her, then looked at Kakashi, who nodded slightly as though to confirm the kunoichi's word.

Hiruzen leaned back in his chair, inhaling his pipe deeply. Unlike Harune suspected, this time, he believed every word she said. He just had one more question.

"Where was this base located?"

Harune's brows knitted together at the inquiry, but she quickly straightened her expression and replied honestly.

"The Land of Sun."

_Then there's no doubt about it_, the old man concluded internally. Harune hadn't given him much to go on, but there was really only one explanation Hiruzen could come up with that could justify Harune's very unexpected and puzzling return. Of course, it made sense that the young jonin hadn't been able to make sense of it all; Hiruzen thought that she was handling the confusing situation quite well, in fact. She wasn't however, he decided, ready to be bombarded by a new slew of information; his discovery could wait until she had fully recovered from her exploits, both physically and mentally. What Hiruzen didn't know was that Harune was already piecing together all the intel she had, which was more than she had relayed.

"Sou ka," the Sandaime finally said pensively, before nodding to the young woman. "Well, that is all I have to ask of you, Harune. You may go. If you're injured, be sure to pass by the hospital to be tended to. I'll be giving you a 7 day leave; Kakashi, you too. Rest well," he dismissed, much to both Harune and Kakashi's surprise.

"H-hai," Harune nodded curtly, shunshining off before her left leg gave out, and Kakashi followed.

"Kuso…" Harune hissed the second her Body Flicker Technique lifted, and she let herself fall onto her bed in her own apartment.

"What the hell is wrong with your leg?" Kakashi asked as soon as he materialized in her bedroom. Harune hadn't needed to explicitly say where she had been headed when she left the office; he just knew where to go.

"Well if I knew, don't you think I'd be doing more than whining about it?!" Harune snapped, unravelling the bandages wrapped up to her mid-thigh. "Don't scream," she half-joked before pulling the white wrappers away.

Kakashi grimaced when he saw the grey skin that reached Harune's thigh; but he instantly regretted it when he caught the ashamed look in Harune's eyes before she turned her face away in embarrassment.

"Harune, I didn't mean it like that, I just—" he began, sitting himself beside her.

"Nah, it's fine, it's pretty nasty," she laughed it off, but she still couldn't face him. When she had woken up that morning, she was thrilled to find that what had happened between her and her best friend hadn't been just a glorious dream, but neither of them had had the chance to talk about it, about _them_, since the incident, what with the circumstances of her return to the village. Ideally, they would have been able to figure out what the hell all that meant when they had woken up side by side that morning, but their lives had never been _ideal_. And now, just to top it all off, she had this disgusting, greyed-up leg that certainly wasn't doing anything to up her hot factor.

"It looks more painful than anything else," Kakashi said quietly. At this, Harune scoffed.

"It feels like hellfire," she said, her typical casual tone heavily contrasting against the words she uttered. "But not the whole thing, just where it joins," she added, running a finger along the jagged line where her dark skin met the grey. Kakashi's natural eye lit up as he slid down to his knees on the floor, positioning her leg so that it rested right in front of him. Harune watched him, thoroughly confused and extremely tense, unsure of what to expect from the Copy-Nin.

"Here?" Kakashi asked, placing a hand on either side of her thigh where the foreign tissue and her natural leg met. Harune nodded, but she reached forward to hold both of Kakashi's wrists firmly.

"What are you doing," she demanded, her tone dangerous.

"Just relax, Haru," Kakashi soothed her, lifting his hands and placing hers to her sides before returning his to her leg. She remained tense as he began to massage her thigh, focusing on the joined tissues. Harune's first reaction was to grab Kakashi's wrist again, and she dug her nails into his skin for the first few moments when the pain became even more intense, but her grip slackened as the pain turned into pure relief not too long after.

"Where did you learn that," Harune breathed, watching Kakashi rub out the burning sensation that had not left since she became aware of it that morning.

"Maa, I think I've spent as much time in the hospital on recovery time as I have on missions," the ANBU captain explained. "You pick up a thing or two from the nurses when you're there as often as I am, you know?"

Harune laughed lightly before moving her hand up to run her fingers through Kakashi's silver hair.

"If it's relieved with a bit of massaging, I don't think this is dead tissue, Haru," he said thoughtfully, looking up from her leg to her eyes.

"Look at you, you may as well just become a medic all together, Kashi-kun," the Kamineko smiled affectionately. Kakashi shrugged.

"I'm serious, I think this is a 'live prosthetic', if you will," he continued, dismissing her comment. "It's burning because your body isn't used to it and it doesn't know what to make of it."

"Where the hell would the guy who patched me up get a grey leg?" Harune asked sarcastically. Kakashi actually thought about it, much to her amusement.

"Your second stage. Your skin turned grey when you transformed," Kakashi pointed out, and Harune's eyes went wide.

"Holy shit, I was just kidding," she said, but she realized as soon as he said it that he was more than likely right.

"Wait," Kakashi said suddenly, "You said 'the guy who patched you up'…You know who rescued you?"

"No… Well, I don't think I know him," Harune replied quickly, shaking her head and cursing internally for having let that slip.

"You don't _think_ you know him?" Kakashi questioned, stopping his massage and giving the young woman his undivided attention. "You told Sandaime-sama you don't remember anything."

"I lied. Big surprise there," Harune said bitingly, crossing her arms now. When Kakashi's disbelief made itself clear as day on his masked face, she continued before he could chastise her. "There was this guy, I mean I'd never met him before, and he was careful, _so_ careful, to keep me from seeing his face. It was disconcerting, really, the way he always walked around in a cloak. I didn't come to very often, but every time I did, he'd just knock me out—" Kakashi stood up, fire in his eyes when she said this, "—with a tea, Kashi-kun, it was a sedative," Harune explained quickly, grasping his hands in hers to calm him; he looked like he was seriously going to run out and beat the stranger senseless when he thought that he had hurt her. The dangerous glint in his eyes disappeared as instantly as it had come, and he sat back down on the edge of the bed beside her, allowing her to continue.

"Anyway, one time I had woken up, and I finally had enough chakra to use my Byakugan… I looked through his hood and…" Harune trailed off, looking down at her lap.

"And…" Kakashi pressed, eager to hear who Harune's mystery healer was.

"I swear to God, Kashi, he looked exactly like my father," Harune whispered hoarsely, struggling to speak now. "He looked identical to Tou-chan, the hair, the eyes, everything, just… he just looked younger."

"Do you…do you think it was him?" Kakashi asked uncertainly. "Because if you were constantly being knocked out by a sedative, I mean, that could have messed with your sight, maybe it was a hallucination—"

"The Byakugan doesn't _hallucinate_, Kashi," Harune snapped impatiently. Of course she had already considered this possibility, but it was hardly even a possibility to begin with. "It wasn't my father, he's dead; it's impossible. And the chakra signatures didn't quite match up… But there's no mistaking the resemblance."

"How did he know to save you and then bring you here?" Kakashi asked. Harune sighed in exasperation and lay down on her back, not bothering to answer him.

"The Curse Mark is gone too, I don't know if you noticed or not," she said instead, eyes closed as she racked her brain for answers she knew she didn't have.

"Yeah, I saw this morning," Kakashi replied, gently brushing her bangs back out of her face. Harune pressed two fingers on her forehead, as was her habit when she thought deeply.

"Are you going to go back and tell the Sandaime all this?" Kakashi asked inquisitively, in a way that told her he would support either decision. When she shook her head, he nodded, and lay on his side next to her. "How's your leg feeling now?"

"So much better. You've got magic hands, Hatake Kakashi," Harune chuckled, relieved that he had changed the subject. She was much too drained to think about her anonymous saviour.

"Well, massages aren't the only thing they can do," Kakashi smirked mischievously, pulling down his mask and pressing his lips to Harune's, said 'magic' hands already finding their way up her shirt and under her bra. Her tiny gasp gave him the opportunity to slip his tongue into her mouth, and Kakashi grinned when he felt her entire body relax as she melted into the kiss. Her hands reached up to embrace him when he climbed over her body and hovered over her, but he quickly pinned them down on either side of her head before pulling away.

"Nope," he said simply, his eyes darkened with desire and longing. He had opened his Sharingan, determined to commit every intimate moment with Harune to memory. She was the love of his life, and though Kakashi hadn't believed in such a thing for the longest time, the way he had felt when he had found her in the forest those 6 months back erased all doubts that such happiness actually existed. Because it did, and it was in the form of the most gorgeous woman he had ever seen, and God help him if he ever forgot the elation and beauty that was Kamineko Harune.

"You had quite a bit of your own way last night," Kakashi hummed in Harune's ear, relishing in the way she shivered with pleasure when he nipped on her earlobe and suckled at the base of her neck. "This time it's my turn. Are you gonna behave yourself?"

With a needy nod, Harune watched as Kakashi pulled away to take off his shirt and pants before moving to do the same. He quickly stopped her though, and bucking his hips into hers, he pushed her down onto her back again, this time with his fingers entwined in hers.

"_You_ are gonna stay put. _I'm _in charge right now," he said sternly, and Harune raised an eyebrow, but went along with it. She was too hot and bothered at this point to argue with him anyway, and she found that she sort of liked when Kakashi took that tone with her. "That's my girl," he smirked, satisfied when Harune obliged. Soon she too was stripped down to just her underwear, all, of course, by Kakashi's doing, and her body was more than ready for him by the time he dipped a finger into her, followed by a second, and then a third. The night before, it was at his point that Kakashi had lost all self-control, but today he remained determined to stay disciplined against his body's pleas to take Harune right then and there. Last night was quick, desperate, and fiery, but today he wanted to take his time and savour her. But _God_, if she kept grinding down against his hand and purring like that…

Kakashi kissed Harune hungrily one last time before making his last command.

"Turn around," he said into her lips, desperately fighting the urge to cum right then and there at the sound of her mewling for him.

"What?" she breathed, eyes closed and clearly unable to think very straight. She was completely lost in the pleasure he, _he _was giving her, and that was outright one of the sexiest things he had ever seen.

"I wanna try something," he cajoled, manoeuvring her so that she was bent forward over the bed. The sight of her open to him was amazing, and Kakashi couldn't help but rip of his boxers off and slide right into her, electricity running straight down his spine as her warmth engulfed him. He hadn't even been able to take off her panties, but pushing them off to the side did just fine, and he soon found himself bucking into her as fast and as hard as he could, both hands holding a firm grip on her perfectly rounded ass. Harune let out a loud cry when he had first entered her, completely unprepared for him, but her shock quickly transformed into pure bliss, and it was all she could do to call out his name as she gripped tightly to her sheets.

The sound of her muttered 'oh fuck's and moans egged Kakashi on even further, and he leaned in close to her body as he jackhammered into her, placing his hands over her balled up fists and fastening his fingers between hers.

"You are _mine_," he growled in her ear, breathing in her sweetness and feeling every inch of her body suck him in with each thrust.

"I've always been yours, Kashi," Harune panted, and Kakashi felt her tighten around him as she orgasmed. Kakashi followed not a second after, and the feeling of his release run through her sent waves of pure ecstasy through her from head to toe.

"Don't ever leave me again," Kakashi murmured when the pair collapsed back onto her bed, both beaded with sweat and breathing heavily.

"Never," Harune promised, weaving her fingers through his and snuggling into his chest. "Kakashi?"

"Hm?"

"I love you."

"I love you too."


	29. The Last Kamineko

_**Yo! So after so long (about a year actually), OHR has finally come to an end. I'd like to thank everyone who's been reading, without you guys this fic wouldn't have come this far. I'm so sorry I went AWOL for a while, the semester got pretty crazy, but I couldn't waste any time since my break started to get this up for you all! I'm sort of sad to see OHR end, but this is definitely not the end of Harune. I promise a sequel will be coming sooner rather than later, and I hope you guys continue to follow Harune as she grows.**_

**_Arigato minna!_**

* * *

"Happy birthday, tou-chan."

"Harune," Kakashi's voice interrupted the Kamineko's wish to her father on the last night of the year.

"Kashi-kun!" the young woman jumped. Few people were able to sneak up on the jonin kunoichi, but her newly-instated ANBU captain seemed to have the uncanny ability to do so any and every time he wanted to.

"You alright? It's almost midnight," he said, walking up to stand beside Harune and join her in her mourning of her deceased.

"Un," her reply barely audible. "Just wishing my father a happy birthday."

"You don't have to go back to the bar tonight," Kakashi said, hoping his best friend didn't feel pressured to join their rather boisterous group of friends in their New Year's festivities. "I can go back myself and tell them you weren't—"

"I'm fine, Kashi, for real," Harune assured him, looking up at him and smiling brightly, though the tear-stained trails on her cheeks didn't go unnoticed by the jonin. "I just wanted to let him know that he wasn't forgotten," she added, turning back to look at the tombstone engraved Kamineko Fuyuro. Kakashi knitted his brows; she spoke distractedly, as though she had something on her mind.

"What are you thinking?" he asked, prompting her to open up to him. He recognized that though she was guarded, Harune still desperately needed an outlet, whether or not she realized it herself.

Harune sighed deeply and ran her hands through her hair.

"I've lived through so much, Kakashi," she started, fists clenched as she glared out into the darkness of the graveyard. "I'm a Konoha jonin; I've encountered Death more times in my life than anyone ever should have to, I've lost my cousin, my friends, and my parents, and I gave one of the Legendary Sannin a run for his fucking money, for fuck's sake! So why, _why _in God's name, can't I walk into a fucking _house_ and just read my father's god damn journals?!"

Kakashi reached out to place what he hoped would be a calming had on Harune's shoulder. The contact instantly prompted her to turn into Kakashi, silently begging to be wrapped in his protective embrace, and Kakashi had no intention of denying her this.

She'd been acting a little off since her mystery-shrouded return to Konoha a little over a week ago. Not that Kakashi could blame her, nor was he all that surprised; Harune had always had the tendency to get incredibly preoccupied in her own thoughts, and he could always tell when she had something on her mind.

Harune knew she should have been happy. She had everything; she was finally back in Konoha (for good this time, she hoped), working missions with ANBU, saw her friends regularly in the village, and most importantly, she had Kakashi. _He_ was her everything: her best friend, her comrade, her partner, and the closest thing she had to family.

So she should have been happy.

And she was, to an extent, but Harune couldn't help but feel incredibly unsatisfied, and it was chipping away at her morale more aggressively than she'd care to admit.

In the days following her mysterious reappearance on Kakashi's doorstep, despite all her efforts, the reinstated ANBU agent had found no clues as to how or why she had been rescued from Orochimaru. It was incredibly frustrating, and coupled with the pressure of being the head of the Sandaime's new Akatsuki Recon Operation, Harune was beginning to feel utterly hopeless. There was too much that she didn't know, too many unanswered questions, and too many gaps in her memories over the last 3 and some years.

Everyone, including Kakashi, told her to dismiss the mystery clouding her most recent return to the Leaf.

"It couldn't have been your father, Harune," they all repeated whenever they caught her buried in medical textbooks and history archives in an attempt to put some sort of rhyme or reason to her anonymous saviour.

"I _know_ it wasn't my father. The chakra signature was different; but I can't ignore the fact that he looked exactly like him," she would argue, the frustration growing in her voice each passing day. Unfortunately, even she realized that no amount of internal research she did would give her any answers.

"There are just some things we can't face, Harune. No matter how strong you are, you're always going to have a weakness," Kakashi comforted the girl in his arms, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead and thinking of his own father's grave: a place he knew he could ever stand before for the rest of his life.

"That's fucking pathetic," arune

Harune muttered bitterly, her grip on the back of Kakashi's vest growing tighter. "I'm fucking pathetic."

"Hardly," Kakashi argued, pushing Harune away just far enough so that he could look directly at her, but didn't let her leave his arms.

"I'm sure tou-san has something to say about this. There has to be something in his journals," she whispered.

As a child, the last Kamineko remembered impatiently awaiting her father to finish writing every evening before she begged him to train with her.

Following her parent's deaths, the property had been placed under the newly-orphaned Kamineko's name, and although Harune was a chuunin who was well on her way to a jonin promotion, she was still only a child, and the trauma of having lost her family was enough to force her out of the place she had once called home. Even now, nearly 6 years later, Harune still struggled to even stand before her old house, but she knew she no longer had a choice. Kamineko Fuyuro's journals still remained in the abandoned bungalow, and Harune was willing to bet her life that her father, with all the knowledge of the shinobi world he had, would be able to tell her everything she needed to know.

But despite her gut instincts and all her determination, Harune froze every time she would try and bring herself to step into her home, and she beat herself up every day for it. After everything she'd been through, all the battles she'd fought, all the enemies she'd destroyed, she couldn't walk into an empty house. She had to laugh bitterly at the irony before turning away to walk back to her tiny apartment every night she wasn't away on mission.

"I'll do it with you, Harune," Kakashi offered. Although he would have much preferred that she drop the subject, Kakashi recognized that Harune was much too stubborn to let this go, and a certain part of him believed that after all the lies she'd been told and been forced to live, the least she deserved was a little bit of truth. And if she believed her father's journals held that truth, as unlikely as he thought it was, he'd help her.

Harune's eyes widened at Kakashi's suggestion, and she shook her head dismally, pulling away to hug herself while she considered his offer.

"I don't think that'll change anything, Kashi," she doubted.

"We don't know if we don't try, ne?" Kakashi countered, taking Harune's gloved hand in his own and pulling her along towards the Kamineko compound.

* * *

"I told you it wouldn't work," Harune muttered, her body frozen solidly in place and refusing to let her step into the abandoned house.

"You're being self-defeatist. It's not working because you're giving up before you even start," Kakashi replied. He was already up on the front porch with his hand on the door, ready to hold it open for Harune once she was ready to walk in. But even 15 minutes since their arrival on the Kamineko property, Harune hadn't budged any closer than 10 feet away from the house.

"Just take it one step at time, Haru," Kakashi coaxed from the doorway, watching Harune intently.

"I can't," Harune choked out hoarsely, fighting against the lump rising in her throat and the tears welling up in her eyes.

"Haru, it's easy. Just take one step forward, at leas—"

"I CAN'T, KAKASHI, DON'T YOU FUCKING GET IT?!" Harune burst out, her voice cracking, and the tears that had been threatening to run spilled down her tattooed face. "What the fuck do you think I've been telling myself since day one? I know how fucking easy it is to _walk_, Kakashi. But when was the last time you tried walking into your old man's place, huh?" she snapped, glaring at Kakashi, who was by her side the instant she lost her temper.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. You're right, Haru," he apologized sincerely, taking Harune's face in his hands and wiping away her tears. "Come, I said I'll do this with you, so I'll do it with you every step of the way, yeah?"

With one swift move, Kakashi pulled Harune into him and signed the seals of the Body Flicker technique, carrying the both of them into the middle of the old Kamineko family room.

The tiny yelp that escaped Harune's lips once she realized what had happened brought a small grin to Kakashi's face, and he had to fight the urge to pull his mask down and kiss her right then and there. Harune was vulnerable, and she was focused on everything but him right now, as she had every right to be. It would be selfish of him to do something as stupid as make a move on her right now.

"Kuso," Harune's voice called Kakashi back to reaity, and he watched idly as she broke away from him and took in her surroundings. Without a word, Harune wandered off deeper into her old home, disappearing from Kakashi's line of sight, though his heightened senses could pick of the sound of her heart racing and her forcibly steadied breathing.

The sudden noise of hammering metal and splintering wood startle Kakashi into battle mode, and she sprinted forward to the source of the sound. He didn't quite know what he expected, but Kakashi was still surprised to find Harune pulling up floorboards and lifting volumes of dust-caked books from beneath them.

Kakashi picked one up from the pile as Harune diligently excavated her father's self-made encyclopedia.

"12," Kakashi read the kanji on the front cover aloud. "How many are there?"

"He started a new one every year," Harune replied. "I don't know exactly when he started, but there's about 20 here."

"10 each?" Kakashi suggested, already claiming his share of the pile.

"U-un," Harune agreed, though hesitantly. Sharing something as valuable as her father's precious journals was not something Harune had intended, but this was Kakashi, a man who had proven to her too many times that he was willing to lay down everything he was and everything he had for her. She owed him her unconditional trust.

Since Kakashi had taken the first half, Harune leaned back against the wall and cracked open the leather-bound journal marked "11".

Nothing could have prepared Harune for the emotional tsunami that crashed through her body as she read through her father's memoires.

_Harune summoned her own nineko for the first time today,_ one entry in the volume labelled "13" read. Harune was 5 at the time. _It was incredible. The amount of raw talent in that child is unimaginable. It is to be expected, though, I suppose. Harune is the product of two of the shinobi world's most powerful clans, though unfortunately she will never know the true strength of the Kamineko, and the Uchiha have already made it abundantly clear that she will never be accepted as a true clansman. I would say this is more of a blessing than a curse; from my own experiences it is more than obvious that the Uchiha cannot be trusted._

Harune furrowed her brows at this last, wondering what her father meant by his own experiences and why he distrusted his own wife's clan.

"Ano, Haru, do you know who Kamineko Natsuo is?" Kakashi's low voice broke Harune's train of thought.

"W-who?" she asked distractedly, recovering from the rather harsh and abrupt return to reality.

"Kamineko Natsuo," Kakashi repeated, but the look on Harune's face showed absolutely no sign of recognition of the name or the man it belonged to.

"Natsuo ka?" she murmured, dropping the journal she was holding and crawling across the room to where Kakashi was seated.

"Un, right here," Kakashi pointed out to the name scribbled on the page he was at.

"_July 3__rd__. Natsuo is born. He looks just like Yukina, he has her hair, but of course he's got the Kamineko's piercing green eyes. The way he looks at you, you can just tell he knows exactly what's going on. He's so sharp. Tomorrow he'll be given his whiskers, and I just know he'll make an excellent chief one day. Welcome to the clan, Kamineko Natsuo."_ Harune read the entry aloud, eyes narrow and mind racing. Her father's entry didn't leave much to interpretation; what it meant was relatively obvious, but even so the 17 year old was having difficulty processing this new information. If she had understood her father correctly, the last Kamineko wasn't in fact the last Kamineko at all.

Harune had a brother.


End file.
